How about 3 more Matsuri(s)? Part 1
Emily in Yamanashi
As the title goes, the next series of substacks will be of 3 vastly different festivals. Yamanashi, the land of Japanese grapes, wine, and one side of Mt. Fuji, is the starting point of this series.
For any new readers, I’m here studying taiko with thee Kaoly Asano, a fairywitch and creator of this particular style of taiko, and through her generosity and open personality, she has brought me across Japan and more.
GOCOO, her professional performing group, were invited to play twice in Yanamanashi, once at Peace One, a beautiful retreat space in the woods, and at an outdoor festival space where you could see the entirety of Mt. Fuji (Fuji san). The latter is what I will be focusing on.
Funny enough, I don’t know the name of this festival. It felt very grassroots, and young. As you approach the venue, you find a small stage with local singers and dancers, plenty of cut logs to sit on, and a small country house with a stoop and food vendors ranging from typical yakisoba (Japanese fried noodles) festival food to African and Korean cuisine. Further behind the festival is a hill with a sloping incline adjacent to massive steps of grassy land, almost like former ascending rice fields. The very top would turn into the stage for the taiko performance. For a video of everything being described, check it out here:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ctbv9DEPOHb/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
In all honesty, this festival was a bit strange for me. As a nikkei (person of japanese heritage born outside of Japan), the festivals I grew up with were bon odori (tradition of dancing for your ancestors), and on my own, I would learn about the big traditional ones such as Sanja Matsuri and Gion Matsuri. So I was surprised to watch nearly naked men carry out a phallic homemade hemp mikoshi to the top of the hill. They then whistled for a woman in a bikini who came sprinting up and jumped on top of the mikoshi to be paraded around. It wasn’t until later someone explained to me this was to resemble fertility, similar to the Kanamara festival. Boy, I was confused.
Fuji san is typically covered in clouds, and the clouds settled in before Gocoo started performing. Of course, the clouds parted so we could see the peak during their piece “Mountain Song,” but the clouds returned as soon as the song was over. Tawoo and Gocoo members often speak about how clouds don’t tend to stick around when they perform outside, and so far I can attest to this.
At a surface level, I could say that this was a hippie festival with remnants of traditions. And yes, I came to Japan originally thinking I would hit up all of the big, ancient traditional festivals and that was all that mattered. I still have a desire to attend these more traditional ones (which will be featured later on), but I am grateful to be attending the ones that challenge what tradition is. I think it’s rare for outsiders to get the chance to attend this type of festival that was created to suit their community, pulling from tradition, but also pioneering something new in a country that has a heavily preserved history (compared to America, of course).
Kaoly san and GOCOO tend to support these types of festivals: small community and self driven events paying homage to Japanese traditions but unabashedly being themselves. And similarly, that describes GOCOO and TAWOO (her taiko dojo or school that I play with). Every wadaiko group has their own philosophy that differs from one another, but there are still similarities across all (example: using tanden/core as your main power source while playing, not just your arms). From past discussions with other taiko mentors, some people don’t consider Gocoo and Tawoo to be taiko or wadaiko, which is a shame. I don’t understand who gets to define what taiko is, as the history of taiko and wadaiko is incredibly diverse. And after my few travels around Japan, my ever changing conclusion is that taiko pays homage to tradition but ultimately suits the people, whether it be festival goers, spectators, village people, or the people playing it. As Kaoly san says, taiko needs people to produce the sound.
Also, why do I get giddy about matsuri? That will be described more so later.
OH AND FOOD! I forgot to snap photos from Yamanashi, besides one of a convenience store sunchip bag that is garlic bread flavored, and a highway road side bread with the most succulent pork filling. Unoriginal hot take, convenient stores tend to be better in Japan than America. #subjective
That’s it!
Cool!!!