Let's Dance!

The Asakusa area of Tokyo is normally associated with “traditional” Japan. It was the Ginza before Ginza came up. It was the Edo-era nightlife district. It’s still strongly associated with festivals like the Sanja Matsuri (one of the three largest festivals in Japan). Yet, for some reason, for the last 30 years it has been home to the Asakusa Samba Festival.

Each August, samba teams – some led by Brazilian, but mainly comprised of Japanese dancers – take over two large streets to parade their floats, dancers and corporate sponsors for the throngs who crowd onto the small sidewalks. (The throngs, incidentally, are made up primarily of men in their late 40’s or older with long telephoto lens-equipped cameras.)

Participating teams obviously spend a great deal of time on the design and construction of their floats and costumes. Some are obviously beholden to (or perhaps employed by) corporate sponsors such as Asahi Beer (a major sponsor of anything that happens in Asakusa given their head office sits across the river) and Pocari Sweat.

Other teams’ concepts were harder to guess the relationship to anything samba/Brazilian. For instance, the Cleopatra dancers (though they must be given credit for sticking close to the theme and being the only team to have “slaves” pushing their float rather than using a truck).

And, this one, which the idle monkey trainer cannot even fathom a guess as to its meaning.

The Asakusa Samba Festival is held the last weekend of August.
(And, now, because they would eventually be requested by the readership, here are a couple more shots.)

The Log Ride

The Onabashira festival is dubbed by its promoters as “one of the three most interesting festivals in Japan.” And indeed it is interesting. Not knowing what the other two, or indeed what a number of Japanese festivals, are like, however, I cannot fully agree or disagree. That it is one of the most dangerous seems plainly obvious. Perhaps this is why they only run it once ever seven years. (It has also been suggested that it is run so rarely because of the scarcity of trees that can provide logs of the appropriate size and straightness. Of course, they have been running it for the past 1200 years.)

The main attraction of this festival is watching a number of men mount a 16-meter, one-ton log to ride down the mountain.  With due pomp the log is presented and hangs precariously over the mountain’s lip. Teams line the sides of the run with ropes in hand, ready to pull against a single counter-rope at the top.

When the time is right, the log is released with the swing of an axe. Like a North Korean topodong, the log pitches quickly forward and begins its downward plunge. For a moment those on the ropes continue to pull, helping propel the log down the hill. Within seconds, however, the log has passed most of them and is subject to the whims of gravity and earth. It stops only as the front of the log slams into the flattening hill. The small valley below, lined with seats safely below the road and across the river, erupts with cheers. Emergency responders rush in as needed.

Once at the bottom the long ropes are laid out down the road, and participants commence dragging the log down to the staging area, about two kilometres away, where it will wait along with the others from the weekend to be moved to and raised at the shrine next week. One then assumes quiet returns to this little town for the next six years.

三社祭 2009 Sanja Matsuri

Another year, another Sanja Matsuri. 

Once again, the idle monkey trainer got out for the fun and exercise of trying to carry a two ton portable shrine through the narrow streets of Asakusa. (Full disclosure, the mikoshi above was the smaller and more comfortable of the two carried that day.) And somehow among all the photographs taken of a Westerner in matsuri clothing, the idle monkey trainer managed to get the photograph below.

German Beer and Sausages

On a brilliant autumn afternoon, the idle monkey trainer took time off from being entirely idle to indulge in the sights, sounds, food and, most importantly, brews of the German people. And as with any fine showcase of German tradition, it was held in Yokohama, Japan.

For two weeks, crowds of people, mostly Japanese, cram into long tables to eat German sausages and drink (expensive) German beer, all while polka bands, clad in lederhosen play. (In what would seem to be a break from true German tradition, however, there was also plenty of Japanese edamame, fried noodles and fried chicken.)
The final day was no exception, as the weather was perfect for an afternoon of drinking.

The Last Festival of the Season

Over the weekend the Idle Monkey Trainer ventured to Konandai, Yokohama to take part in what will be the last festival of the season (for him, anyway). The small shrine in the neighborhood hosted a local festival with only one event: a mikoshi.There was also only one food stall at the shrine, selling hot dogs.

This particular festival had a limited number of participants, and a fortunately smaller mikoshi than during previous experiences. This was fortunate in that the Idle Monkey Trainer stands several inches (centimeters) taller than most people in this country. The result was a Sweaty Monkey Trainer, with a sore shoulder. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable evening.It was just a good thing the festival did not last too long.

Star search

From Reuters:

Besides Tanabata celebrations, more than 70,000 Japanese shops, offices and tourist attractions such as Tokyo Tower will take part in a "lights off" campaign to save energy on Monday evening.

 "The G8 summit will take place on Tanabata, so we are working towards turning off the lights, and gazing at the milky way while re-affirming the importance of the environment," said Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in a speech last month. 


Having lived in Tokyo for several years, I cannot help but think that the effort will not result in a view of the Milky Way. There is so much light pollution here, that only on the clearest nights and after the
lights at the nearby temple have been turned off, have I seen more than two stars at any one time. And one of those could have been a planet. The G8 leaders, at their relatively remote retreat, may indeed be able to see stars in the night sky.

Tanabata is based on a Chinese legend, in which Kengyuu (the star Alter) meets Orihime (the star Vega) only once a year on this day over the Milky Way. People celebrate this day by putting up big branches of bamboo with colourful decorations at home. People also make a wish and hang a strip of paper with their wish written on it. (from nihongomemo.com)

Global Tito Update

Once again there has been a sporadic update to Global Tito. This year the idle monkey trainer was lucky enough to take the day off from idleness and spend some time carrying a three-ton shrine around the neighborhood. You can read more about it and see the shrine here.

The following week, I was also dragged from idleness to again carry a shrine, though smaller and for less time, at the Torigoe Matsuri. This particular festival is held in the evening, with candles illuminating the mikoshi as they are carried to the small shrine.

The orange lights are the shrines.

Stopping to receive the blessing of the temple priests under the crescent moon.

A foreign monkey trainer burdened with mikoshi.

Surrounding the main event, of course, are the attendant booths, selling food, booze and those with games. Games like "scoop the goldfish/turtle/other aquatic creature". Well, that is not the official name, but that better conveys the gist of it.

Scoop them up and take them home, as many as you can before your paper scooper disintegrates.

The catch of the idle monkey trainer, who, by the way, practices catch and release. After all, what is an idle monkey trainer going to do with six small green turtles and that other thing?

Different festivals have different attendant events, of course, and among the more rare is the lion dance. This apparently used to be much more common, but has lost some of its popularity and there are fewer dancers able to perform nowadays. But, if you are lucky enough to get a "bite" from the lion, it brings good luck.

The aftermath

As previously noted, the sanja matsuri, with its attendant hordes came to Tokyo's sensoji temple complex and surrounding neighborhoods. Saturday's early rains seemed to keep things from starting too quickly, but Sunday's postcard clear day invited more people out.

On hand into the evening were literally at least eight bus-loads of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's finest crowd control cops. As the sun set, the mikoshi (portable shrines) continued to wind their way through the streets, accompanied by spectators and police.


Clean up takes place quickly around the temple grounds. The booths of food and games come down mostly Sunday night, the crowd control barriers get pulled to the back of the temple, and the mountain of garbage that is generated over the two day's of celebration is loaded for the landfills and incinerators

I think they are going to need a bigger truck.

Thailand in Japan

May 12th and 13th, hordes of Tokyo denizens assembled in Yoyogi park to get their fill of Thai food, Thai pop music and Thai beer. Not necessarily in that order.


This weekend, the sanja matsuri, one of the three largest festivals in Japan takes place in Tokyo's Asakusa district. As this is close the current world headquarters of the Idle Monkey Trainer, I will be leaving the area this weekend. Think of the crowd above tripled in size, and half of them carrying small shrines, like these guys below two years ago.