May 2, 2008
-
Dontaku
Today's "go somewhere" is downtown Fukuoka to see something called a "Dontaku." It is some kind of costume parade. I took the Arita pictures out of my camera and adjusted the color - still have to resize for posting. What is holding me up? Could it be the headache that I have from spending two compulsive days on a stupid jigsaw puzzle that I now have half completed? It is Vincent van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum."
And here are the "Dontaku" pictures! Let's start with an Internet explanation of this yearly Fukuoka Festival. During the Dontaku Festival, many people, young and old, parade through the streets in various costumes, some playing the shamisen or beating drums, others clapping wooden rice paddles. The festival originates from the local custom dating back to the Heian period (13th century) , called 'toka' or 'matsubayashi,' during which the local people praised the feudal lord on the occasion of New Year. It is said that the upper class people of Hakata walked around the town on their way back from the castle. The word 'Dontaku' comes from the Dutch word 'Zontag,' meaning holiday (Probably "Sunday"). The festival was first referred to as 'Dontaku' in the Meiji period (late 19th century) when the once-prohibited 'matsubayashi' was revived. Today it is celebrated as a citizens 'festival and many people from in and outside Fukuoka, including from overseas, get together on May 3rd and 4th to celebrate. The whole city eagerly awaits the start of one of the most exciting carnivals in Japan.
Actually, I would consider this event held simultaneously all over the city to be a display of local talent with a street parade taking place over two days. There were Western and Eastern style marching bands. Have a look.
These ladies are casting their ballots for the best local talent. They must have done some dancing themselves.
This feller was dressed up fancy for the show.
Pounding omochi rice cake - stand back everybody!
This bridge is along the parade route. The crowds have already gathered.
Traditional displays walk by. I don't have a good spot on the sidewalk, so I can only get shots of the people going and not coming.
Little kids were getting under these fancy umbrellas for good luck. We decide to move up the street in hope of a better view.
A local marching band
I liked this sousaphone shot
There were four of these fancy cars - one of them caught fire the next day and was on the news.
Bus company people - kind of scary!
76 trombones....
with a 110 saxophones close behind...
Drums, a bit different from Mike's variety!
Baritone horns
Next some the Japanese style marching bands - these kids were cute.
Shamisens
Here is the biwa marching band!
More Shamisenz
The wind section
And a drum
These did not make any noise, I just liked the colors.
Birdy hats
Rice paddle band
Ladies in different attire
At this point Hubby declared a la Herr Compukermann that "he'd had enough" and we went to a local mall to do a bit of shopping. Below was some scenery encountered along the way.
Comments (6)
Only half done? It does look like quite a challenge. What is the blue picture next.to it? If that's another puzzle (and it probably is) it looks equally challenging and for your headache"s sake, wait a little while before starting it. Are you going to glue them to a board or just destroy them when you are done? All that work should not be for nothing.
Puzzles... do you arrange them by color and number of prongs or holes like my mom does when undertaking such epic proportions? Have you done any of the "Impossibles" puzzles, too, which have no border and the same pattern over and over which make you want to destroy the pieces? x3
God bless,
~Scott
@Gramcface - The picture on the left is what the puzzle on the right is supposed to be. I don't want to look at any orange for awhile. I think I have overstimulated the color portion of my brain and am going to take a couple of daze off.
@gelatinemonkey - arrange by color after getting out all the edge pieces. All of the pieces have two prongs and two holes, so that will not do me any good. I only attempt what seems to be possible. My grandmother did a puzzle of a huge round totally red circle once.
These photos are beautiful. Sorry that hubby had enough and put a stop to the photo shoot but he was probably right. There are so many wonderful things to see that almost anyone would want to "go somewhere" almost all the time. Thanks for sharing
@Gramcface - Well, as you know, when a feller has "had enough" it is no good trying to throw one's self in front of the shredder truck. He was probably right, the sun was hot and there was still another hour to go.
Comments are closed.