Fun Times at Nada Fighting Festival!

It was a cold, wet, rainy day, but that didn't stop everyone from coming out and enjoying the Nada Kenka Matsuri this year. I was only able to really enjoy the first day, but here's some neat photos from the event. I had a pretty good vantage point and was mostly sheltered from the rain, so I was able to relax and watch without getting trampled in the massive crowds.

Some mini shrines would precede the larger portable shrines (yatai), and they'd move very, very quickly.

It takes a lot of men to lift these shrines, particularly with four drummers sitting on the inside (and the drum itself weighs quite a bit!).

The yatai were all too large to actually enter the gate into the main temple complex. So, ladders would be brought out and the top screwed off to safely drag the yatai through the gate.

Seven different neighborhoods "compete" during the Fighting Festival, and each neighborhood is represented by a different color.

Younger boys, not quite old enough to carry the yatai, still have a chance to participate in the festival. I call this group the "Whistle Brigade" because they were all armed with whistles and blew them incessantly as they cleared the way for their yatai. I hope they were wearing earplugs.

I felt sorry for most of the men participating in this festival. Wearing a fundoshi (traditional Japanese loin cloth) doesn't look particularly comfortable, nor can carrying these massive shrines around be easy.

Yes, two lion dances happened simultaneously on top of this mini shrine as it moved at rapid speed towards the gate. It was cool to watch for sure!

Occasionally two or three neighborhoods' yatai would be in the area at the same time, and that usually led to a dance-off. Seriously, that's the best way to describe this phenomena. The shrines are concurrently lifted and jostled and are pushed together as close as the men can. It's pretty dangerous for everyone involved, spectators included.

The shrines themselves are ornate and cost an amazing amount of money. It takes about a year before a new yatai can be lacquered and gilded. They last about ten years, and then the neighborhood saves up to get a new one.

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