An Hour at the Sanja Festival

 It came as a near miss this year too. With all my attention focused on the move, I came close to forgetting about one of the biggest festivals in Tokyo - the Sanja Matsuri. By the time I managed to free myself to get there, the big event was all but over, but I did manage to catch some of the magic of the festivities.

 Sanja Matsuri is held in honor of the three founding priests of the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, and is celebrated through the worship of three portable mikoshi shrines, over the course of three days. The first day (a Friday) is dedicated to dance, the second (Saturday) to the 100 lesser shrines, and the third (Sunday) to the three main shrines. It's a wild, bustling affair and certainly is crowded, with an estimated 2 million visitors coming in during the combined three days of the festivities.

 I unfortunately caught only the very end of said festivities, having shown up on Sunday evening, but managed nevertheless to catch sight of an important event - the return of the main mikoshi to Sensoji Temple, hoisted upon the backs of men and women chanting as they carried it back to its starting point.

 Against the light of the Sky Tree in the night sky, it's a good reminder of the sharp contrast between modern times and tradition in Japan. I couldn't help but feel inspired by the chants of the mikoshi carriers, heard from such a long distance away and echoed by the surrounding crowd, as they marched towards and eventually through the kaminarimon - the thunder gates. Really, it sounds as epic as it looks.

 I followed them a certain distance through said gates and the musical float too, with the musicians inside banging drums and piping flutes. One of the musicians even had a little girl on her lap, who no doubt will be expected to carry the tradition through one day.

 Unfortunately, I can't go without saying that I did miss the best of Sanja Matsuri, which is also known for having yakuza transporting their own mikoshi on the second day of the festival while displaying their tattoos to the public (a rare occurrence), and its Geisha performances ranking among some of the best in Japan.
I'm crossing my fingers, though, and hoping I won't get sidetracked from next year's festivities.