.029 - the aoi matsuri festival

Today, I got to attend my first Japanese festival, Aoi Matsuri (literally "blue festival"). During the event they basically close off the streets of Kyoto as hundreds of everyday people dress in aoi leaves as they pay homage to the Heian time period. According to the people at the event (and with the help of my more fluent Japanese speaking friends), I found out that the participants wear these garments to protect against many things like earthquakes and lighting, and to promote easy childbirth. According to one guy "it seems to have been working for a while(~100s of years) so why stop [the parade] now". Aside from the hundreds of guys walking at a steady, slow pace down the roads of Kyoto, there were also a few carriages and men on horseback.

Later in the program, we saw a few "princesses".

But from the looks of it most of these "princesses" were actually guys (which explains a lot, e.g. looks). Anyhow, for the most part this parade was nothing like the extravagant made-for-TV parades in the US. I was a little disappointed by the lack of liveliness at the event. It was pretty low key. No bells or whistles, not clappers, no floats, no cheers, nothing. Just the clicks of horse hooves. But according to Ketsuke, one of my Japanese friends from Kyodai, not all of them are this low-key. I guess I'll just have to hold my breath for the next matsuri, Gion Matsuri, which is rumored to have fireworks. That is if I'm in Kyoto for the summer...