Japan Video Topics 2011/12
Japan Reconstructs - Festivals in Tohoku
A Festival of Festivals - Tohoku Rokkon Sai (4’21”)
Held in Sendai, the biggest city of the Tohoku region, the Tohoku Rokkon Sai is an event showcasing the region's six most famous festivals. This region was the area worst hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March, 2011, and the new event was planned to revive the spirits of the people, help them overcome the effects of the disaster, and show the rest of Japan and the world that Tohoku is as exciting and dynamic as ever. The featured festivals are Nebuta (Aomori), Kanto (Akita), Sansa (Morioka), Hanagasa (Yamagata), Waraji (Fukushima), and Tanabata (Sendai).
800 Years of Tradition - Aizu Tajima Gion Festival (4’12”)
With a history going back over 800 years, this is one of the great summer events in Tohoku's Fukushima Prefecture, and one of the most famous of Japan's Gion festivals. The daytime part includes a parade of about 30 women dressed in gorgeous bridal kimonos carrying traditional offerings to the local shrine. At night, there is a parade of huge floats that stop at various points to act as stages for kabuki performances. The kabuki actors are children, and each time the floats move on, children from the audience ride along, chanting encouragement to the teams of haulers.
Showcasing Tohoku Dance - Kitakami Michinoku Geino Festival (3’43”)
Each year in early August, a festival of Tohoku regional performing arts is held in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture. The whole town becomes a stage for a wide variety of traditional dances from all over the region, performed in Kitakami's shrines, department stores, plazas and parks. About 120 groups took part in the festival this year, held in the aftermath of the disaster that devastated this region. Lively performances were provided by dancers from Tohoku and beyond, including groups from towns and villages destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami.
Festival on Matsushima Bay - Shiogama Minato Festival (4’23”)
This festival was started after the second world war to pray for divine protection and inspiration as the people of the region struggled through the post-war reconstruction period. Deities from the two hilltop Shiogama and Shiwahiko Shrines are carried in procession in two mikoshi portable shrines to the harbor. Each mikoshi is then placed on its own special ship which sails around scenic Matsushima Bay, accompanied by dozens of fishing boats. The festival takes on a special significance this year, as the region once again faces the difficult task of reconstruction.
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