- So, Jidai Matsuri is basically old people and horses? - asked my Peruvian friend, a very amiable guy whose playful personality can brighten up the gloomiest of days.
I laughed out loud, as I couldn't think of more perfect description of the actual event. To make it complete, I would only add '... in historical clothing'.
As a serious Kyoto history and art geek, I was preparing to see the 時代祭(jidai matsuri) for weeks. I was scrutinizing the map, investigating the most picturesque places to take pictures from. I read about the historical clothes on the internet, and learned the kanji for them. I even circled the day of the festival on the calendar and was actually crossing out the days to see it, my first ever festival in Japan. And then even more waiting, because the event was postponed... I seriously couldn't believe such an event could be so... well, disappointing, really. And immensely boring.
We stayed till the end, but most of the crowd dispersed after the first hour. I guess they also had a different idea of 'the festival'. We were taking pictures, but at some point they all started to look exactly the same. The only attraction were the occasional women in beautiful kimono and state-of-the art makeup, but there were surprisingly few of them as compared to the horsemen in more or less the same 'interesting' outfits. To be honest, at some point our main attraction was betting on whether some horse, tickled by the elaborate outfit it was wrapped in would break loose or kick somebody...
I know. x_x
These are the best of the pictures I managed to take. The procession presented the periods in Japanese history in reverse order, starting from 明治時代, Meiji Jidai (1868-1912) ending on 平安時代, Heian Jidai (794-1185). Of course, in my general awesomeness I already managed to mix the pictures up all together, so no informative order anymore. Sorry! Still hoping you'll enjoy them though!
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| An fine example of kasane-no irome, the Heian period art of kimono-layering. For more information check this great webpage: http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/garb/garb.ch14.html |
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| Expression on the face of the woman behind the princess - priceless! |
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| And now tell me you didn't think this chap was talking on a mobile ;-) |
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| What an elaborate armour! |
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| These kids in the bright red wigs scared the hell out of me... |
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| On this picture you can see how strong some of the horses were. Some were so impatient that we just waited for an accident to happen... |
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| I think it's one of my favourite pictures - this grandpa looks so pleased! |
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| Very young kids were accompanied by mums/grandmas. |
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| Equipped with cutting-edge technology - historically attired brains behind the entire operation. |
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| A mysterious balloon that appeared over the sky during the Jidai Matsuri... It reads ミラクルひろば, mirakuru hiroba, and that would be 'a miraculous corner' or 'a nook of miracles', but what it could be - I have no idea. |
Actually no, not really, as it's on the topic.
Roughly a week before the festival, our great Ninja janitor left a box full of these on the table in the common room: (by the way- how he does it, I have no idea, but he often treats us to something really nice from some shrines/shops/companies. Of course, nothing is impossible for a ninja, but it's still intriguing!).
These were manju, a sweet buns with azuki beans centre, in two colours representing the colours of the national flag. Apparently, it was the gift from the Heian Shrine for us to celebrate the Jidai Matsuri. I was so happy! So pleased, in fact, that I applied all my feeble willpower so as not to eat them the very evening, and I stowed them away, especially for the day of the festival.
What was my horror when after the matsuri I finally sat down to relish on my manju, just to discover THAT:
Yes. Japanese sweets simply don't keep that long, regardless of how well you actually store them. I felt cheated, but I had no choice but to throw them away, swearing under my breath for being such an idiot and not eating them when I had a chance...
And therefore I still have no idea how the real Japanese manju tastes like :'(((. And I still feel cheated by the bloody Japanese sweets. At least I learned two memorable lessons: first, eat your Japanese sweets the moment you get a hold of them, and second - it's better to do something and regret doing it than not doing it, regretting you haven't done it.
From now on that shalt be named: The Philosophy of the Rotten Manju.
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