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.