It’s that time of the year – festivals everywhere! So many in fact that I would need a couple of dozens of clones to have a chance at covering them all. Yesterday I visited the Kitazawa Hachiman Jinja in Tokyo’s hip Shimokitzawa district in Setagaya ward. Early in the day the shrine wasn’t that crowded but people kept coming and at night it was packed, dark and hot! People everywhere, the food stands doing their best in helping us navigate by smell alone. All in all, a great festival for everyone, but especially for kids and families. The shrine even had a novel way of handling the amigo (curse you autocorrect!) maigo (lost children), between the shows on stage they would just take the kids up on stage and the happy parents would pick them up. Very efficient! You know it’s a good festival when the police’s main concern is to look after lost kids. The main event is today, so if you are in the city and want to see something traditional you’d better head over. It’s started already!
This is also the 1700th post of the blog. Not the 1700th ever posted (I go back and clean out the boring posts every now and then) but the 1700th of the posts online right now. I think I deserve a piece of cake. Stay with me for the 2000th post sometime in 2014!
