The signature hats of the Awa Odori.
What can be translated as "the Dance of Fools", the Awa Odori is originally from Tokushima; a smaller version of the dance/festival was introduced to Koenji (in Tokyo) in 1956; and the smallest version of all was brought to little Susono in 1983. Though Shizuoka is traditionally a very conservative prefecture, I think a certain wildness (fool-ness) conveyed itself through the deep, throbbing beats of the drums and the gleeful incitements of the dancers.
Elegant Obi: there were many people in lovely traditional dress.
There were many yatai (food stalls) serving a wide variety of festival food - takoyaki (grilled battered balls of octopus), kawaebi (whole fried and salted baby shrimp), various renditions of ika (squid - battered, fried, raw, on a stick, you name it!), and yakitori (grilled chicken kebabs). Not that we lack any sense of adventure, but we veered away from the squid, and had a dinner of yakitori and kawaebi. As usual, we had a great time, drank some cold beer with our dinner while walking around and enjoyed the evening.
The yatai where we bought our yakitori.
1 comment:
Looks like another great time. Great pics once again. I think I would have steered clear of the squid as well.
Post a Comment