When you visit Japan, you might have seen a summer festival. It might be a famous one or a very local one. Right, Natsumatsuri (夏祭り) is a summer festival that takes place all over the Japan from summer to autumn. Today, I’m going to share some tips on how to enjoy it to the fullest. Let’s get started!
1. Why Does Natsumatsuri Take Place in Summer?
There are some reasons here. First off, there used to be concerns of spreading infectious diseases during the summertime, so people in ancient times held festivals to pray for good health, so they wouldn’t get any diseases. It is said that this wish was the origin of natsumatsuri! Secondly, It’s related to agriculture. Farmers used to pray for their harvesting well in the summer in order not to get any diseases in their crops. Lastly, “Bon-odori” used to be a part of natsumatsuri. Bon-odori is dancing with a group at a certain palace. This is because its aim was to pray for your ancestors.
2. What Is Bon-odori?
As I mentioned above, bon-odori was originally aimed as an opportunity to pray for your ancestors. Its aim is also to encourage people to communicate with each other at the natsumatsuri. Nowadays, most of the time, you can jump in bon-odori freely. At the festival, you can enjoy dancing, and eating and drinking at the stalls. These activities give you an escape from the daily environment.
3. How To Join the Bon-odori?
It’s a breeze! In many cases, there is a circle of bon-odori. It is allowed to join the circle for any visitors. The smartest trick to join is that you can join at the end of the music. And, you can imitate the person in front of you. You might learn to see a master who is situated in the center of the circle. If you want to leave the circle, it is the best time when the music stops. Generally speaking, bon-odri is welcome to join for visitors. Don’t hesitate to do it, you might want to join it.
4. Enjoy the Stalls
There are many stalls there. You can enjoy snacks that are sold at the festival, such as yakisoba, yakitori, takoyaki, karaage, and things like that. My recommendation is Karaage for the win. I’d have to say, it’s pretty hit or miss, but the outside is crispy, and the inside is juicy chicken when you get a hit.
How was that? In summer, there are many natsumatsuri from major festivals to a small local festival all around Japan. It’s the best time to communicate with locals with dancing and drinking. Natsumatsuri is important to Japanese people not just for leisure and entertainment, but also the tradition and history of praying for harvest and health. When you get a chance, why not join natsumatsuri? I hope you have an unforgettable experience.
Thank you for taking the ime to read my article to the end. See you soon!
I worked at a trading company for many years. I live in Tokyo with my wife. Love skiing, traveling, IPAs, wine , X-treme sports, fashion, and learning English and Chinese.
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