Greetings from Atami. While y’all were enjoying Marine Day yesterday, we were busy thanking the gods for protecting all the folks who live in and visit Atami. Yes indeed, we are celebrating Atami’s "Kogashi Matsuri,” following the ancient tradition of offering up "mugikogashi" (dried barley flour) to the gods to curry their good favor and ask for their continued protection. I took lots of pictures and video clips of last evening's festivities, but it’ll take a while for me to edit it, so that's for a future post. For now, check out these pictures of me hanging with my in-law homies here in Atami. On the left is me posing with my brother-in-law Toshi-chan, and on the right, with cousin Sho-chan. These guys were clearly into the festivities, and it was so much fun to watch them cut loose. The internet is packed with information about the Kogashi festival, so I’ll spare you the details and just make a few personal observations: My Japanese friends always seem to have the most fun (as indicated by their smiles and level of playfulness) at music events and traditional festivals. Yesterday was no exception. You could write an academic treatise on the social significance of these festivals. I saw firsthand last night its community-building effects, as we (my local family and I) reconnected with numerous people we hadn’t seen in years. One couple that we last saw at our wedding forty years ago approached us out of the blue! (They recognized us right away...dare I say that the blue-eyed gaijin tends to stand out?) These festivals also function as a "social pressure valve” that gives permission to an otherwise reserved people to joyously cut loose and be a little crazy. And crazy it was! I was amazed at the sheer number of floats and mikoshi - quite impressive! Another interesting fact; with fewer and fewer young folks in the populace, there is a shortage of children to play the taiko drums, not to mention a shortage of young adults to carry the mikoshi. For the latter problem, the current “solution” is for various regions to pool their resources and attend each other’s festivals. So far it is working. Lastly, with the pandemic putting a crimp on these festivals over the last few years, the pent-up energy and desire by the locals to cut loose and have fun was palpable; lots of animated behavior and smiles all around. (And yes, alcohol had a little something to do with it. :) What a great time last night! I plan to follow up with a video soon to showcase some of the floats that rolled through town. I'm calling it “A Taste of Atami Matsuri Culture." So stay tuned!
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Senior Consultant (HR & Efficient Business Communication) USA representative at JCO | MBA
1moLove it! If we can retire in Atami I'll take up playing Taiko again 😁 Tanoshimi ❤️