Life On The Move

Fussa Tanabata Festival

This past weekend my Team G went down to the Fussa Tanabata Street Festival. We went last year but we were not ready to take it all in. We had just arrived to Japan and we were still in a bit of disarray in terms of adapting to the culture. Now, we speak more of the language and understand more about the culture. We were able to enjoy more of this years festival and we flat out fit in better. I am from New Orleans, so this festival reminded me of some of our festivals in Cajun land. All of the food vendors along the streets. The different music coming from every direction. The culture here is so, that you can stick your hand out and grab it.

I was really impressed with the street side shows that took place. The small cart backed up to the side of a building with an even smaller band inside playing out a scene from the Japanese fairy tale, Tanabata. Apparently this fairy tale is very similar to that of Romeo and Juliet. Two Japanese young adults fall in love, but their family’s do not get along. They try and be together anyway but, their family’s find out and try make them give up each other. This does not work, they both commit suicide instead. And so the tale goes.

I was able to pop off a few shots, but it was very crowded. Pushing the stroller around and working my way through the thicker parts of the festival was a hassle. I hope you enjoy the photos from our night out on the town.

Also, this time of the year in Japan is festival season. It looks like I am going to be able to shoot several of the fests and maybe even find out what the celebrations are about this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 at 9:47 pm. It is filed under japan, mitake. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.