For your enjoyment of Owara
The Owara Kaze no Bon Festival in Yatsuo Town, Toyama Prefecture, takes place from September 1 to 3 every year.
During this period, the town of Owara becomes a different world. The Bonbori lanterns of each town are lit, and people in matching kimonos parade through their respective towns to the accompaniment of kokyu (Japanese violin), shamisen (three-stringed Japanese banjo), and melancholy songs. Another characteristic of this festival is that people wear braided hats and do not show their faces. Suwa-machi, in particular, is a quaint street with a series of stone-paved slopes. Owara Kaze no Bon Festival has been depicted in songs, novels, and comic books, and attracts many visitors from all over Japan.
The town of Yatsuo has previously asked me to report on their festival.
It was not a report about the pomp and circumstance of the festival, but rather a report to tell the people of Yatsuo what they needed to do to make the tourists who came to Yatsuo comfortable. I boarded a train with my cameraman from Toyama Station and headed for the festival. Toyama Station was crowded with long lines of people, and the station was also crowded with more people than usual in Toyama.
Nowadays, there are many extra trains, but back then, the crowds were so huge that the antenna of our camera broke. Fortunately, there were other photographers, so we were able to swap cameras and continue our coverage of Yatsuo.
On the way to the venue in Yatsuo, we walked slowly up the hill one step at a time. We walked through the city, reporting on the condition of the restrooms, garbage, and any steps that made it difficult to walk.
Decades have passed since then, and Yatsuo Town now attracts many more visitors to see the Owara. Everyone in Yatsuo is doing their best to make the viewing experience more pleasant than before.
After the Owara, a festival for the townspeople
Since the Owara season is so crowded, I used to go to the eve of the festival, which was held at the end of August, but this year there was no eve of the festival, only the main festival.
Do you know what the town of Yao looks like on September 3, after the last train has come and the festival has come to an end? I went to Yatsuo at midnight.
The time was 2 am. There were few people in the town of Yatsuo after the festival, but I could feel the heat remaining. The sounds of shamisen and kokyu music echo through the town, and it is a time of quiet festivities for locals only. Although the number of participating dancers is reduced, beautiful sounds echo through the quiet town as they parade through the streets. At this time, dancers danced without braided hats. I hear that families who have learned the dance since childhood and live far away from the prefecture come back for this festival. This festival is important to the people of Yatsuo, and its spirit can be felt through the beautifully extended fingertips of the dancers. It is a truly beautiful festival that Toyama is proud of.
