We were going to bike out to Nishio anyway, but our plans were enhanced after a random phone call from Greg, our British friend, who told us he got lost after trying to find a shortcut to Hekinan from Nishio and ended up at some wacky horse festival, and that we should really come check it out. He told us that some guy just got trampled, and from how it sounded i thought that Greg was right in the fray. So he met us at the bridge and led us to this festival, and then he left. I don't know where he went off to.
But we wandered around the area, which was a shrine and its surrounding buildings. There was a barnyard smell of horses, and i was surprised to realize that they didn't smell the uh...nice horse smell. They smelled really rank. Anyway, the violent activities seemed to have died down, and there was music playing in front of the shrine, and people buying food, watching other people, and some people seemed to be waiting for something more to happen. 
We soon saw kids dressed in kimonos and gathering on a stage, so we watched and took photos. They began dancing and there were people on stage playing drums and flutes. The really weird thing was that these other guys nearby were playing different tunes on their drums and flutes at the same time. It was a cacophony for a while, and sort of tainted the performance of gracefully dancing children on stage. We wondered why they couldn't just play one after the other. But we don't speak japanese, so we couldn't ask.
So this was a festival, i suppose. I'm not sure what it was for, specifically. It was really beautiful, and after a while, the horse men were back in the arena, whipping this horse to run around in circles while they tried, one at a time, to grab onto its neck and run as far as they could with it. Again, we wondered what this was for, but as this is a "western" tendency, we tried to put it aside and just enjoy it. The men were in teams and i think it was a contest. I'll try to get a video of it on here.
1 comment:
Finally, there you are! Had the priviledge of visiting your blog one other time when Cary posted your AD. It got lost in the mass of information on the site and I couldn't seem to find it. I asked Cary to repost it, but I guess she didn't read my request b/c she didn't post anything. With your recent post giving the blog name, I gotcha. I'll save it to 'my favourites' in I.E. so I'll have it for the future. You guys have been on my mind and I've been wondering how your lives have been going, what your neighbourhood is like, what your apartment is like, how you're living in general. You know, that sort of thing. I can appreciate the sort of cultural loniliness you guys must be feeling when you can't even spend a Yen without the 'point-and-grunt' routine, or doing your best to stumble through your tiny supply of mispronounced foreigner-type Japanese. (You ain't never gonna sound like a native)
Here in the lower Frazer Valley, winter has set in with a vengence. RAIN,RAIN,RAIN! Lotsa RAIN. I've taken off a month or two as required for the start of my CPP and rather enjoying the time. We plan to go to Wells to spend Christmas with Bob and Di. Wells can be really pretty and bucolic at that time of year. Bob will be working in Barkerville during the holidays. I gather from reading between the lines that it'll be open for a short while then. AJ and I are still debating the pros and cons of a motorhome. Can we manage the initial cost, plus outfitting, plus insurance, plus storage cost (1$/foot per month) plus, of course, the biggie, fuel. At 8 or so MPG, it's gonna add up! Well, seeing as this is the first time I've tried to post here, I'll end this for now and hope it works. Love to Mandy and yourself; UD
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