Inbetween packing and sleeping I managed to finish editing the promised Yamakasa video. Here it is, in most of its glory:
If I had encoded it at the bitrate it deserves, it never would have finished uploading, so I hope this suffices for most. By the way, here is a direct link to the video page.
I also took the time to upload my latest batches of photos. As usual, they were prepended to my Japan in Today's World photo collection. Here they are in chronological order:
- Gyouza party photos - my Japanese Speaking class got together at the end of the semester and prepared foods from our respective countries. Lacking cooking skills, I prepared spaghetti, but the other dishes were excellent!
- Yamakasa photos - of course. The video exists because these do not do the festival justice, but there are still a few gems to be found.
Cheers, for now!
My plans just changed: I bumped the first leg of my plane ticket up to next Tuesday, so instead of sitting in the Tokyo Narita airport for 9 hours, I sit there for 4 days. Or I leave the airport and come back. We'll see which is more convenient. ;)
In the US, it's not uncommon to see young people on tiny bicycles---you know, the ones with the tiny wheels. They're eye-catching and make it easier to do certain tricks (hence the sale of bikes like these). Well, however entertaining it is to watch people rolling down the street on one of those, it's at least twice as funny when it's a Japanese businessman in a suit, presumably on his way to do something important. I see these people by chance nearly every week at various locations, and I can never help smiling.
Imagine trying to leave campus at 3 AM to find that all the gates are locked. All the police boxes are empty, even the one with the flashing red light. At intervals you can hear the sounds of other bicyclists in the distance, and sometimes catch a glimpse, but never really know if they're there or your imagination.
That's my experience from just two hours ago. It was a scary old time. Thankfully, I found a gate that happened to be open (when I was in the middle of sending emergency e-mails to a few friends for help), so I zipped out and pedaled home as fast as I could manage.
On the way home I actually stopped to watch some construction that was happening. There was a long stretch of road that was sectioned off so that construction workers on gigantic cherry-pickers could do some sort of maintenance work on the raised toll road that runs through the city. The scale of their operation was impressive, and they were making very little noise.
I went to Yamakasa. It was fun. I feel like I'm too busy to write much, so I'll just close this with a teaser.
Yesterday, despite knowing full well that it was a horrible idea given my impending deadlines, I visited a Yamakasa practice near home. Let me tell you, I have now seen enough nearly-naked butts to last me a lifetime. In fact, I never want to see that much skin on a guy again, though I may make an exception for the actual race because I hear that it's awesome.
Photos are forthcoming, so you will soon be able to enjoy it for yourself.
Highlight! There was a video camera crew recording the event---I assume for a news organization, though there were no logos---and I was lucky (?) enough to get caught on film a few times. In fact, there was one point where the camera was trained solely on a conversation between my host mother and I for 15 seconds or so. I guess my orange and black umbrella (gotta represent), our difference in height, the fact that I'm foreign, and my innate handsomeness gave the scene some interest. I just wish I knew where the tape went.
Just before the float started moving (which was a sight!), there was one kimono-wearing Yamakasa member who decided to stand directly in front of me and stretch. I wanted to watch the preparations, but oh man, if I looked even in that general direction, I had to deal with the fact that out of the corner of my eye there was a man shaking his nearly naked butt in my face. I'll never be able to rub those images from my mind.
As for the actual float-carry part of the practice, they basically ran down the street, ran back, then repeated the same down an intersecting street. It was really fun to watch, though, because there were 6 people sitting on the float barking out commands while there were guys on the sides repeatedly throwing entire buckets of water over the guys carrying it. The energy level was very high.
Here are some photos from previous Yamakasa (accompanied by some crazy music).
As I understand it, Gion Yamakasa is a traditional Hakata (Fukuoka) festival where guys wear skimpy outfits and carry gigantic floats around the city as fast as they can, to the delight of women and girls alike. You can tell a Yamakasa float-carrier in the days leading up to the race by his nearly modest loincloth and nearly-completely exposed rear end.
July 1: Floats unveiled
July 9: Runners perform purification and blessing rituals
July 10: Afternoon practices in respective districts
July 11: Early morning practices
July 12: Rehearsal race
July 13: Floats are carried to City Hall
July 14: Evening "warm-up" (sounds like a drinking party)
July 15: 5AM race! The main event!
Oisa-oisa!
