Summer was a flurry of "matsuri" (kapistahan sa atin), and here are some photos I took of a small "odori matsuri" (dance fiesta), where different dance troupes from all over Japan present their traditional style of dancing. I wish I had enough disk space to capture the event on video, as the music was also something to enjoy.
The special wooden clogs the women are wearing in the photos were made for dancing, a real cliche! These were made to make clackety-clacking sounds to match the accompanying music. I missed other matsuri where men wore the traditional short "happi"(similar to ones you see here, but a few inches shorter) and instead of short pants, they wear "fundoshi" that leaves their buttcheeks exposed! It's more like a buttcheek matsuri, really.
Last summer was also my first time to join a public dance, I had to learn the steps on the fly and it sure was fun! It was like that thing we do at school, everyone in step with the music, but this one was much more exciting, traditional music done live and if you want to take a break, there's beer and fiesta food everywhere! Then you go back and join the dancing throng of mostly inebriated matsuri-goers!
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