The Moon Landing? Colombian Independence Day? What about bellybuttons?
What, you didn't know? Shame on you.
July 20th is the annual bellybutton festival - Heso Matsuri, in Itabashi, in Northern Tokyo. You know, that day where you affix fake arms to your waist, take your shirt off, draw a face on your belly and dance in the street. I know, right? July and August are full of diverse festivals, but this one's just bizarre. And yet, Heso Matsuri has been an annual thing for the past 43 years.
Despite having history, it ain't really a well-known thing. Itabashi isn't exactly downtown, and even on-site reporters covering the event let out a "What exactly are we celebrating?"
I did a little research and apparently it all stems from a tradition in Northern Japan, on the Hokkaido landmass, where the tradition was born to reunite the people of a city through humor.
Tokyo's Heso Matsuri isn't a huge event, but there were still a few things happening here and there, such as belly-dancing, the traditional aforementioned Heso dance, and a parade of 80-or-so children marching down the streets with the fake arms. Apparently the giant curtain hat thing is supposed to cover your face as well as hide your arms for added effect, but none of the kids were quite good (or even tried) at the Heso dance unfortunately.
Alright, alright. They were cute regardless. Here's a video of them parading in the street.
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