Hayashi Dancer at Hachioji Matsuri

A couple of weekends ago saw the grand Hachioji Matsuri, one of the bigger city festivals in the Kanto region and in my opinion, one of the most accessible. Hachioji is a city in western Tokyo, with a population of over half a million people it is the 8th largest in Tokyo. I didn’t think I would be able to make it to this year’s festival but I found some free time and made it out there. Hachioji Matsuri has everything, music, people, dashi (large festival wagons), omikoshi, parades, dancers and of course, the stands of hayashi groups performing throughout the city, like this one. Lion dancers and a lone demon dancers entertained the public and played traditional hayashi style music of percussion and flutes. The dancer looked quite well dresses, it must have been exhausting in the near 35 degree heat!