Hello everyone,
Around this time of year the Danjiri festival is held. Giant carts in the shape of a shrine or temple are carried through the streets. After months of preparation a ceremonial display is given whereby the shrines are made to "bow" as a kind of mark of respect to the passing Danjiri. The festival I saw was a fairly local one where 5 Danjiri carts met in the street. The display was very spectacular!
The carts are extremely heavy. The older members of the group are at the back turning and the younger members of the group at the front pulling. They were exhausted after the festival. The cart is kept in the temple for most of the year and has intricate and delicate carvings all over it. In the day there are celebrations too. For example, in one part of Osaka there is the famous Kishiwada Danjiri festival where they run at breakneck speed through the streets. I didn't see this but there was a lot of running in the day apparently. They have been known to cause some damage!
The whole evening lasted a couple of hours, but for the past few weeks there have been practices all over Osaka. You can hear people screaming the Japanese for "heave-ho!" everywhere.
Here are some pictures and a video.
Around this time of year the Danjiri festival is held. Giant carts in the shape of a shrine or temple are carried through the streets. After months of preparation a ceremonial display is given whereby the shrines are made to "bow" as a kind of mark of respect to the passing Danjiri. The festival I saw was a fairly local one where 5 Danjiri carts met in the street. The display was very spectacular!
The carts are extremely heavy. The older members of the group are at the back turning and the younger members of the group at the front pulling. They were exhausted after the festival. The cart is kept in the temple for most of the year and has intricate and delicate carvings all over it. In the day there are celebrations too. For example, in one part of Osaka there is the famous Kishiwada Danjiri festival where they run at breakneck speed through the streets. I didn't see this but there was a lot of running in the day apparently. They have been known to cause some damage!
The whole evening lasted a couple of hours, but for the past few weeks there have been practices all over Osaka. You can hear people screaming the Japanese for "heave-ho!" everywhere.
Here are some pictures and a video.
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| Up close before the events began |
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| Making last minute preparations |
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| Drumming away in the cart |
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| The amazing display |
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| Feeling the burn |
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| Why not use your mobile when you are bored up there? |
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| They used ropes to steady themselves as the cart is dragged through the street |
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| Getting tipped side to side! Notice the neon lights |
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| Sunglasses, neon lights and of course purple devil horns! |
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| Playing the flute |
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| Didn't realise at the time but this poor boy was crying from drumming too hard |
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| Microphones and bright lights! I like the lanterns on them! |
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