Atami Ginza – Kogashi Matsuri

One of the main attractions in the southernly town of Atami in Shizuoka prefecture south west of Tokyo and Yokohama is the fantastically extravagant Kogashi Matsuri, where on one hand youngsters from different neighborhoods team up and compete to create the most over-the-top dashi, or ritual wagon, while on the other hand much more religious and conservative teams of older men and women uphold the traditional shrine omikoshi, carrying them around town. When the two festival cultures clash spectacularly on the streets of Atami during the jam packed festival it looks absolutely chaotic. To get out of the way of the dashi train (these are huge lumbering vehicles drawn by hundreds of townspeople with scores of teenagers banging and shouting strapped tight on top) and the oncoming throngs of omikoshi I entered a side street on a whim, which turned out to be the main street of the Atami Ginza (same name as the Ginza in Tokyo due to a shared history of minting) thinking I would be able to catch my breath. After less than a minute I turn around and see the most of the town omikoshi teams piling in behind me. Out the ash into the fire! I got these shots before being manhandled out of the way completely. You can tell that Atami is an old seaside resort – these people really know how to throw a proper summer festival!

I took these photos last year and in a few months it is time again. Don’t miss it!

Faces of Atami – Festival Singing

In a photoblog like this it is really difficult to convey sounds and music, even though you lose 90% of the atmosphere by not being able to hear the sounds of the festival photos I put up on this blog I try to do my best with colors and images instead. There is one particular sound you do not hear very often anymore in Japanese festivals, even though it used to be a common part of folk culture back in the Edo period of pre-modern Japan (roughly from the start of the 17th to the mid 19th centuries), the Jinku singing (甚句). This is a kind of very slow rhythmic singing that is easy to pick up and requires the audience or the chorus to respond with a few set phrases or words. Different regions, cities or even streets have their own traditional jinku lyrics with small variations to the melody, often at the whim of the main singer. There are a few well known widely used jinku songs but sometimes a singer will compose his or her own lyrics about whatever is on the minds of the people taking part in the song. I have heard lyrics about the seasons, lost love, the joys of drinking, the sweet sadness of graduating school and even songs about how heard it is to get laid! Some of the songs are very poetic but some of the songs are extremely funny, especially when singer is having fun on behalf of the community or group of people making up the chorus. Sumo wrestlers have their own kind jinku and you can also hear it on some wedding ceremonies when friends of the groom will perform at the celebrations to honer the couple. But the best way to hear jinku is to at the festivals, if you are really lucky you will catch a group of omikoshi carriers giving their best with one of these songs, and if the singer is talented and not too drunk, the suggestive melody and sweetness will give you proper goose bumps! I was lucky enough to run right into a group with a talented jinku singer and a megaphone at the Kogashi Matsuri in Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture last month.

If you do not mind, please go to this page, click a song title and then click play on the inbuilt media player on the page and listen to a typical (but very low quality recording of a) jinku song. Unfortunately I could not find the lyrics to the song she was singing here in Atami. This group is called Yuwadoushikai (勇和同志會). I know next to nothing about jinku, so if you know more or can correct me, please feel free to lecture us all in the comments! I am dying to learn more about this wonderful form of singing.

Tomiya Coffee

I love this coffee sign I found in Atami, Shizuoka prefecture. I wish we had this in Tokyo!

Atami Beachi Fireworks

Last weekend I was traveling through Atami and visited the classic beach there. It looks almost like the riviera in daylight. At night, people came out to enjoy fireworks. It looked like a lot of fun, but I was happy to stand to the side with my camera and observe! Atami is a great little city in Shizuoka prefecture that I have blogged about before, it used to be a famous resort for over worked Tokyoites but these days they are trying to reinvent their city! The whole of Japan’s south coast seems to be enjoying a mini revival.

Taking good photos of people in pitch black places only lit up by fireworks is really tricky. I think I need more practice.