Takayama Hachiman Autum Festival

So back on the 9th and 10th of October (I can't believe it's almost November!) my quiet little city at the base of the western alps became the world's largest tour bus parking lot. Or so it seemed. The streets and bridges and shops and temples became swollen rivers of humanity - all carrying cameras and cellphones - and my friends and I became one with the greasy, dripping, pefection otherwise known as Festival Food.

It rained the entire week, and the entire weekend, and then on Monday morning, the morning of the festival, the sky was so clear that I could see Norikura, newly dusted with snow, from my balcony:

Despite being tired from a weekend in Tokyo and long night of karaoke-ing, I just couldn't stay in bed. I also wanted a sampling of Festival Food before the streets became the DVP on a Friday afternoon of a long weekend. So I went out.

A colourful flower stand, the very first I came across. After that it was alllll food.

Food stands! This is a mere trickle of people compared to what came later in the day. I had some sweet cakes, not unlike Korean walnut cakes, in the shape of fish, some superb Hida Yaki-Niku (Hida region beef skewers) and a cherry ice. A great breakfast. Here are some more food stand shots:





I then made my may up to the main temple and came across a display of the beautiful and infamous "yatai", or floats, the highlight of the festival. The level of craftmanship is superb and I could have stayed there the entire morning admiring all the intricate details.




After that I wandered around town for awhile...



... met up with some friends and went sake tasting...

... and then grabbed more festival food and collapsed on the banks of the Miyagawa River (I had taco-yaki and chicken shwarma from some Turkish guys out of Nagoya).

Later, when it was dark out, we watched while the yatai's were hung with glowing lanterns and paraded around the streets of the city:


And honestly, I don't remember what we did that night; more karaoke I think. I had to work during the 2nd day of the festival, but that evening I met my friend Becca and we managed to squeeze in one last Festival Food meal before the next one in April. We ate okonimiyaki, taco yaki, sweet potato fries and more of those little fish cakes. Oishikatta.

Life is hard with no internet

I got a letter from Softbank: they need another copy of my gaijin-card picture and may not be able to set-up in my area. At this rate, I'll probably have internet access at my apartment by my birthday. I am a Taurus.

Anyway, as usual I've been really, really busy. Last weekend I met my friend Andrew in Tokyo for a much-needed urban slap in the face (I had my toes stepped on by hoards of people and I loved it!) and then spent the Holiday Monday wandering around my own little city, taking in the sites and sounds and tastes - the most important part - of the Takayama Fall Festival. The number of people who suddenly flooded the streets and riverbanks and back alleys, temples and sake shops was almost terrifying. I went sake-sampling with friends and each time we emerged from the dark, wood-and-stone shops with their ominous cedar balls hanging out front, the world was just a bit more sparkly. We had glorious weather.

I spent last week at Norikura doing English stuff and hiking with slow 10 year olds. Then I was at one of my Shogakkos (elementary schools) where I made Jack-o-lantern masks with 6 year olds and had them knock on my (imaginary) door and practice trick-or-treating (with real candy). They ate up every sugar infused second of it and at the end of the day I watched them traipse down the hill/mountain - some of the children walk 50 mins each way! - with red and black back-packs, yellow hats and orange faces.

I haven't downloaded any pictures yet so I will leave you with this one, taken back in August.

Takayama has a Totoro shop! It's actually devoted to all things Miyazaki, but the majority of their wares is Totoro. What more could you ask for in a small Japanese city in the mountains?

Ok, here are some more pictures of Takayama, taken back in August:

The Miyagawa River and the Tori-gate bridge

A pretty stretch of river that is tucked-away amongst merchant houses and souvenir shops

Owwwwwwwww.

Went hiking/climbing on saturday. It was amazing. Now I can't move as I apparently pulled every single muscle in my body (including my liver, but that happened Sat. night). Before I elaborate, however, here are some pictures of the last two weeks:

My friends from Toronto stayed a couple of days. I showed them around Takayama, we went to an onsen and ate a fabulous dinner of Hida yaki-niku.

Lynn and Nate in what was actually a gift shop in the old section of Takayama

Me and Lynn on the 'Big Chair' on Kokubunji St. I've started doing the 'finger thing'. Japan is slowly creeping into my brain



Last Saturday I went to the town of Furukawa, about 15 mins north of Takayama, for their Kitsune-bi Matsuri (Fox fire festival). It was really, really cool, and had a very local, small-town feel to it which was nice. It's a harvest festival where people dress up as foxes and parade around the town, and then make their way to the base of the shrine -- right next to the local elementary school -- where a fox god marriage is reenacted. Oh, and it's all done by torchlight.

The approach to the temple

Me and my friend Katie in fox make-up.

The first-two torch bearers approach ...

... and light the various fire 'baskets' along the path to the temple.

The fox-god's procession (this was all done to taiko drums)

It's not a fire festival for nothing! We were standing right next to one of these things and nearly caught on fire ourselves.

The fox-bride approaches with her hand-maidens

The marriage ceremony begins, but...

... dragons interrupt! No really, these are dragons. I know it's hard to tell from my lousy photographs, but they were really cool. They're made from braided rice straw and are 'worked' by about 4 people who jump and snarl and have a great time. They were actually pretty scary!

So basically the dragons interrupt, a lot of fighting goes on, the dragons are set on fire and eventually give up, the party goes on and everyone dances around in celebration. In addition to the taiko drums, there was a whole group of foxes playing wooden flutes which was very nice to hear. Like I said, it was an amazing festival. And I got to eat festival food.


And finally, Becca and I climbed Nishi Hotaka on Saturday (I mean 'climb': a good part of the trail was vertical). To reach the trail-head we first had to take the longest cable car ride in Asia: the Shin Hotaka Ropeway

This is not my picture: there is no snow yet. But you get the idea. And yes, it's a double-decker gondola. The view of the Japanese Alps was spectacular.

We started hiking at 10am; the trail was a steep hike through beautiful and lush forest. We kept passing tour group after tour group (the Japanese really like to hike!) and by 10:45 had reached the lodge, situated right at the tree-line. It was quite large and apparently could sleep up to 300 people - crowded together on tatami mats, of course. Or you could pay a small fee and set up a tent. At 10:45 in the morning it was already swarming with people.

The view from the lodge


We stopped to use the washrooms and were soon on our way again. Instead of walking through dense forest we were now out in the open and walking through low, evergreen bushes (which were pleasantly soft to the touch!). The trail became steep and rocky, and before long we were carefully making our way up skree (loose rocks) to the ridgeline.

This picture was taken at the first 'stop', a flat part of the trail where many people stop to take a break. This is looking back down the path; the lodge is somewhere down there.

The path going up. See the skree!? It's not fun to walk on. If not for my really good hiking boots I would have twisted my ankle and/or fallen more times than I can count.

This is the view from the first 'fake' peak. This is also where parts of the trail became more vertical than horizontal, our poles were packed away, and we started using our arms as much as our legs.

Lunch! Just be careful where you put your onigiri.

Looking east

The trai (somewhere)

The trail goes up

The peak on the left is Nishi, another 15 mins or so away from where this picture was taken. Unfortunately I didn't quite make it thanks to my asthma and the altitude (2908 m). I was pretty angry, but figured I'd rather continue breathing than not, so Becca went on and I sat on the edge of a very, very high cliff. And just to make things interesting, as I was catching my breath I heard the sounds of falling rock and people on the peak all looking over the edge. To my horror, I saw something blue and white go tumbling and smashing down the mountain and disappear. For a second I thought it was a person, but it turned out to be a person's pack. *phew* He came racing down with a cell phone and no pack a little while later, but I have no idea how he'll get it back. A little while after that my heart finally stopped racing.


Me and Becca




Me and Becca back at the trailhead at about 4:30. Behind us is the peak of Nishi Hotaka-dake! It was an excellent hike, despite me not being able to move today. Oh, and we ended the day with a loooong, hot soak. I love Japan!