Kiryu Yagibushi Matsuri

Today is the official start of Kiryu's annual summer festival, the Yagibushi Matsuri ('yagibushi' is a type of dance and 'matsuri' is the Japanese word for 'festival'). Throughout the week we've watched the city put on its fanciest outfit, getting all dolled up for a weekend of parades, music, dancing, street fairs and yummy food vendors. I have a yukata for each day of the festival and have secured someone to bind me up each morning... today I just wandered into one of the offices in city hall with the most women and asked if someone would help me put on yukata for the festival. (They went totally crazy, I haven't seen people so excited in ages. There must have been four people fussing over the length of my yukata, the size of my obi knot, how I should wear my hair and trying to find me a fan to tuck in the top my obi...so much fun. People everywhere are amazed to see foreigners wearing such traditional Japanese clothes, but they all have something sweet to say about it.) I spent most of the morning and early afternoon watching a traditional contest of solo performances that fall somewhere between singing and chanting, and am hoping to catch some dance later in the day. Tonight is my 'enkai' (welcoming party) with the City Hall Board of Education staff at a local sushi restaurant, followed by as much matsuri as I can fit into the next few days.

I know I'm already behind on pictures, and this weekend is going to produce a million more, so I'll promise to do my best to get them posted as soon as possible. There's a pretty good chance my internet will be installed by Monday morning EST... so maybe I'll put together a big weeklong photo journal to celebrate!