Iwa-jinja

The famous shrine here in Ichinomiya hosted their annual festival 10/16. This happened before our Kyoto excursion (stay tuned for that...)

We could hear the low bass Taiko drum sound for a couple weeks before the fest, as the local men practiced the fighting dance with portable shrines right down the street from our house. Under the golden ornaments & fabric you see below, 4 men beat the Taiko drum. The men follow the chants and shouts of the leader. The energy from the drum is so powerful, I felt like I could carry that huge mother myself.




This seems to be the last of the season's harvest festivals, and definitely the best. It lasted all day. I have no idea how these guys lasted that long. Maybe being drunk off sake and the thrill of bearing your bum helps too. After gathering at the shrine midday, there was a procession down to Ibo-gawa (river). There on the river bank, the scantily-clad men gave their shoulders a rest while the town elders performed a ceremony. Offerings of food, sake, and flowers were given up the gods while bamboo flutes were played. After this, we all (hundreds of people from towns all around) paraded back to the shrine for more shrine fighting/dancing and flying mochi balls!