Yoshiwara Gionsai – Yodahara Hunks

Not sure what it will do for the balance of the men/women ratio on this blog, but I seriously must post these photos from the wonderful Yoshiwara Gionsai festival in Fuji City earlier this month. In this festival, every neighborhood of the city puts up their own “dashi” and make sure it is manned with as many people as possible from the neighborhood itself, each dashi crew is trying to outdo the others in music, performance and style! Although the beauty of the girls representing Rokkencho might have ensured them the top spot this year, no one could help noticing the hunks manning the Yodahara (依田原) dashi! These guys spared nothing when it came to putting on a show! You can tell these guys are no weaklings – two of them have the telltale marks on their shoulders that come from carrying an omikoshi an hour through the streets (not something I think I could survive). I often think Japanese men don’t get the attention they deserve, cute girls tend to steal the show, but I challenge anyone to find a man that matches that almost Schwarzeneggarian smile on the young drummer? Girls – if you’re wondering where all the real men of Japan are hiding out – Shizuoka prefecture might be a good place to start looking!

Children Of the Yoshiwara Gionsai

I don’t know what it is about the people of Shizuoka, but they come out really well in photos, especially the kids. I took these snapshots of local children at the amazing Yoshiwara Gionsai (吉原祇園祭), the main festival (I think!) of the the Yoshiwara district in Fuji City, just to the south of Mount Fuji. I’ve said it before but Japanese kids really are beautiful, and the older ones have great taste in headwear as well! Enjoy!

Yoshiwara Gionsai – Fuji City

Being based in Tokyo you tend to compare everything in Japan with what you are used to in that great city, but there really is something special about the festivals of Shizuoka prefecture, to the west after Kanagawa prefecture. Shizuoka is right in the heartland of Japanese light and heavy Industry, between Tokyo and Nagoya, enjoying a mild climate from the southern latitudes and the closeness to the Pacific Ocean. There’s something almost tropical about Shizuoka’s summer festival, like the Yoshiwara Gionsai that I visited last Sunday. It differs in a few details from other similar festivals but you would recognize the entertainment and music from the other great festivals of Shizuoka; Hamamatsu, Kakegawa, Mishima, etc (to just mention the ones I make a point of visiting as often as I can). It is really strange to me that so few people from Tokyo take the chance to travel out to here, it’s just two-three hours on the local trains from Tokyo and far cheaper than the Shinkansen bullet trains. I did this trip over the day, morning departure from Tokyo station and then back again at night. If you have a little free time in Tokyo this summer and want to see something new, I can really recommend checking out the festivals of Shizuoka prefecture!

Here’s a collection of random snapshots of the great people and the great atmosphere of Yoshiwara! Enjoy!

Three Beauties of Yoshiwara

On the second Saturday and Sunday of ever June there is a large festival in town of Yoshiwara (吉原), part of Fuji City, just to the south of Mount Fuji and very near the Pacific Ocean. The festival is called Yoshiwara Gionsai (吉原祇園際) and is one of the fun Shizuoka style festivals. To start with, here’s three exceptionally lively and very fun beauties belonging to the Rokkencho-neighborhood (六軒町), effectively winning the hearts of all the young men in the city with their performance from one of the many dashi that represents all the neighborhoods of the town. The Rokkencho beauties were definitely the belles of the ball this year’s festival, but in this lovely photo from 1935 they young men and women of Rokkencho look a little bit more cautious. Oh to have been alive to see this festival both in 1935 and 2012! More about Yoshiwara and the festival to come!