Report: Let’s go to see the festival in Tokyo~Ome grand festival 青梅大祭

What are you carrying?

Stop being like a country bumpkin. We just get to Tokyo within 2 hours by train. (*They live in Gunma prefecture.)

I can’t take it. Shinjuku is the busiest station in Tokyo (and the world) ahead of Shibuya station and Tokyo station. Tokyo Metropolitan Government office is in Shinjuku,too.

So many people!

It is said that this festival gathers about 150,000 people. There are too many people that we can hardly move.

This is a “Dashi”. Each town in Ome city has a “Dashi”. There are 12 in all. There are various designs and decorations applied. These floats are so gorgeous that they are sometimes even described as a “mobile art museum”. To see each design of the Dashi is part of the attractions of enjoying this festival.

First, foxes greet us.

Yes. We will be able to find many masked characters on the Dashi.

Maybe. Not only animals, many various masked characters will be dancing on Dashi. This is not “Pokemon Go”, it’s “Maskman Go”. How many can we find them?

They are playing music called “O-hayashi”. Especially O-hayashi played in festivals is called “Matsuri-bayashi”. It is designed to be performed with festival events and as such, the shape of performances and performer’s costumes can vary depending on the nature of the events. And an interesting point of this flute for festivals is that the musical scales don’t conform to either Japanese or Western music, because the finger holes are equally spaced to make it easier to make as well as to play.

People call the situation when two Dashi collide “hikkawase”. “Hikkawase”‘s “hiku” means to pull Dashi, and “awase” means to have them collide. It is the highlight of the festival. The time when more than two Dashi collide brings more excitement. This time is announced on the leaflet before hand or real-time on microphone. The leaflet is provided at the station free of charge. This leaflet tells the kind of each Dashi and where the Dashi will pass.

Let’s walk around a little.

Foods, drinks, Japanese cheap sweets and toys are on the shop stands. “Yaki-soba“, “Tako-yaki“, “Okonomi-yaki” are traditional old-timers of all the stalls at the festival. In addition, there are grilled corn, “Yaki-tori” and so on. I guess Yaki-tori and Tako-yaki are some of the famous Japanese cheap foods. Yaki-tori is grilled chicken skewer, like kebab. Tako-yaki is a flour based snack baked in the shape of little round balls containing pieces of octopus. Okonomi-yaki is a dish of thinly sliced cabbage mixed with batter made of flour, eggs and water and cooked on an iron grill. Yaki-soba is stir-fried noodles. Yaki-soba, Okonomi-yaki and Tako-yaki are added with Japanese salty-sweet sauce. Each costs about \4~500.

These are for children. But, most adults are excited to remember their childhood. These colors, smells, tastes and sounds. Every element enlivens people. I wonder if most festivals have such elements all over the world.

You! Before I knew it. You are drinking alone.

It is the greatest highlight scene to turn the Dashi. For example, “Kishiwada danjiri (it is held at Kishiwada in Osaka) ” is famous. At this festival, the highlight is to turn the Dashi around with breakneck speed.

Let’s go to look for them.

These variety of masks all derive from Noh, Kyogen and Kagura*,and so on. They represent a deity, people or animals.
*Noh, Kyogen and Kagura are traditional performing arts since medieval times. Especially, Noh uses a lot of masks.
Foxes, raccoon dogs, or monkeys are active characters in folk tale. In stories, foxes and raccoon dogs bewitch people. In addition, foxes are messengers of the deity of rice planting.

This festival is for the deity of Sumiyoshi shrine. We go to shrines to worship.

Hey! Don’t reach for sweets. It’s for children. Quit making a fool of yourself.

This is “Ibayashi”. It means they play “Ohayashi” without moving. In this period, they play and dance not only on the Dashi, but also on the stage like this. They are set along the road.

On the 2nd of May, it is held from 3 pm to 10 pm. On the 3rd, it is held from 9 am to 10 pm. On the 2nd, the Dashi only moves in each town. So, I recommend to go on the 3rd.