The festival of soulful sounds

After leaving Osaka we have moved to Kashihara for the following step in our trip.

When leaving our guesthouse we were surprised by being greeted by the owner of the grocery shop in front of us, even though we had bought fruit from him only twice.

Once in Kashihara we did a visit to Nara, walking through the deers, then the next we have started helping with the preparation for the Ontamasai festival.

Setting up the stage, mounting tents, laying cables, preparing food stands, mounting and decorating the o-mikoshi... and when there was time, rehearsing for our performance. 

Then Saturday the festival started and it came our turn to perform on stage. Even though it was raining when it was our turn, all the public just opened the umbrella and didn't move from the grass.

Sharing the stage with the masters, in front of such a large audience, has been a thrilling experience, giving us lots of energy. Even though the temperature was chilly, we were not cold.

A warm shower once at the guesthouse was the deserved prize before a night of deep sleep.

A day of surprises

Yesterday it has been a day of surprises. 

It has started in the morning, when upon walking in a park I have seem people sitting on the grass to play shogi. I have stopped to watch them and have started talking with some of the bystanders. I told them I knew shogi through 3月のラヨン, and their eyes lighted up, since also they liked the anime. A little kid invited me to play a game, but I had to refuse not knowing all the rules. Before leaving they gifted me a paper fan.

We then moved to visit a taiko maker, Taiko Masa, where we found that not only the benches at the bus stop are shaped like a taiko...

but also that the bus stop has the score of a small taiko piece.

Before dinner we have visited the local sento: an old style bath, visited only by locals and where tourists like us are a very rare sight.

After relaxing in the hot bath, we have gone for dinner to a small okonomiyakiya, again a local place where we have been object of curiosity while enjoying a tasty dinner.

On the way back we have heard a familiar sound, and we have found a group of high schoolers practicing a piece for taiko and atarigane which they will play at the local matsuri next week.

The funny thing is that the temple is practically in the back of our lodging, so we had this experience home delivered.

Too bad that we won't be able to see the matsuri in person!

Matsuri in Hiraoka.

We didn't have any special plan for yesterday. We had just some rough plan of visiting some tourist spot, but nothing defined.

On Friday morning we left Harashiyama and moved to Osaka, where in the evening we had a taiko class.

Our lodging is located in a shopping street in a not touristic part of the city, where foreigners are a rare sight.

After the class our teacher told us that in Hiraoka there would have been a festival in the weekend, and that it would have been a good chance for us to hear some original taiko.

So Saturday morning we have hopped on the train to reach Hiraoka. Once there we have started roaming the streets until we have stumbled upon 3 o-mikoshi departing for the ritual procession.

We have followed them until they have met other processions, where we have been given an explanation of the ceremony: 21 altars are carried on the shoulders of worshippers from the surrounding of the temple along the roads of the village up on the mountain where the temple is located. 

There are altars carried by men, by high school girls and high school boys, each of them accompanied by loud shouting and by a slow paced and imposing beat given from a taiko located at the center of the altar.

Seeing how these people are able to lift and carry these altars on the steep snd narrow road leading to the temple, and then shaking and twirling them once in the square in front of the tori sends shivers down the spine.

It didn't even matter that it was drizzling: they just protected the altars with plastic sheets and carried on with ritual.

We left before the ceremony was over, but the taiko beat still rumbles in our body.

3 days in Kyoto

Back in Japan, and back in Kyoto for the third time.

First time was in 2017, during the golden week. Not exactly the best time of the year to visit a touristic hot spot, especially after having spent weeks in the quieter Shikoku. 

Second time was in 2018, just an overnight stay while touring in Kansay, with a quick greeting to the police and a visit to the bamboo forest. 

This year, instead, we have stopped here 3 days at the beginning of our trip, staying again in Arashiyama.

We have visited the Fushimi Inari Taisha, the Kiyomizu-dera and enjoyed walking along the Kamogawa, visiting the imperial Palace and the narrow streets packed with izakaya and karaoke bars.

This time, with no rush, we have been able to experience the city better.

Despite the obvious abundance of tourists, the city is more chill and relaxed than Tokyo, and sitting on the riverside is an amazing way of relaxing during a warm afternoon in October. Adding the nice bonus of practicing the shinobue in the shadow made us blend better with locals.

Once again, closing the day in the onsen close to the hostel was a magnificent way of relaxing our muscles after a day of walking. And Arashiyama at night, with no crowd on the streets, gives off a completely different vibe.