On the second day of the Michinoku Geino Matsuri, local groups and clubs perform traditional dances all day all around town. Shishi odori (deer dancing) always occurs in the park near my place. Sansa odori (a Morioka special) is performed in performance halls and on the strees.
Kagura shows perform all day at temples and shrines. And oni kenbai from the freakishly adorable to the ferociously intimidating dance anywhere and everywhere they can.
After our big adventure to Hiraizumi, I wanted to give my folks a little break and keep close to town for the day and run a few errands together. First order of business was getting a little trolley or cart for Dad's suitcase. While they were in Tokyo, one of the rubber tires warped from the heat and made pulling the damned thing nearly impossible. Since it cooled, the tire improved, but Dad still wanted something to make carting the big beastie around a little easier.
We took a trip to one of the malls in town. We first went to a luggage store that was recommended to me, but they didn't have a cart and couldn't repair my dad's bag on site. I thought maybe we could check out the department store downstairs. No luck. And Japanese department stores have everything! Well, not this one. We traipsed through a pharmacy and health care store looking for baby powder...and there they were! Well, they were actually shopping carts for older women with a little metal cart and canvas bag. They rationalized giving the bag to me to use for something and taking the cart themselves.
Mission accomplished!
On the way out, we ran into some very cute pastries and my brother in disguise.
We drove onward. Mom needed some drain strainers for the kitchen sink and Dad wanted some cords for lashing his bag to the cart. Off to Homac, home improvement superstore epicness central! Think WalMart only 8,000 times cooler. My parents were like junior high schoolers at Tokyo Disneyworld. Dad scampered off to hardware and Mom and I wandered kitchen and gardening. She liked the little trowels with smiley faces and Dad contemplated some rickshaw shoes. They both got a kick out of the pets section, but were appalled at the price of a puppy!
After that, it was lunch time...time to introduce Mom to Kappa Zushi! She got a real kick out of the conveyor belt and the special shinkansen for single orders.
The rest of the day, we watched dances around town. They really enjoyed walking around and getting to know Kitakami the way I see it. My regular spots, my regular stores and shortcuts, they really wanted to see how I live.
In the interim between the afternoon dances and the evening parade, we came back to my place for beer and snacks. I made sure to do it right: bowls of dried meat, fish strips, sanbei and nuts and raisins. And beer, of course, in my fancy pants glasses. We snacked and drank for a bit before heading out.
The evening was for mikoshi, the shrines crowds carry on their shoulders in parades, and cultural dancing. The big finale is a +100 oni kenbai extravaganza. We drank more beer and walked along the street until we found a nice cozy spot for them to sit. I buzzed around them and took pictures and talked with some locals. It was a good thing Mom and Dad sat down where they did!
Last year during a lion kagura dance, the lion puppet was made to breathe on me...long story. There are pictures. My parents had the same exact experience! Japanese people around them were shouting and pointing at them, getting the dancers to come over and give my parents some good luck.
Mom loved all the girls and kids in their yukata. Dad was very interested in the different dances, especially the sansa odori character who waves a stuffed weasel as he dances. Just his style.
As the evening progressed, we wandered further down the street. More shishi were dancing here, more sansa over there...and then down a side street, I found the tigers!
Four dancers wearing two tiger costumes were dancing in the porch lights of a bar, playing with prop bamboo and doing some very interesting heel kicking. As I knelt down to get a better angle, a little boy in a stroller turned and gaped at me, eyes like a Boston terrier. I'm used to the babies here just sort of staring in confusion at me, but this kid, focused on my face. Eyes bugging, he slowly put his tiny little hand on my right arm and with his other hand, pointed at the dancers. His jaw was dropped wide open. He was the picture of amazement.
The last event of the evening was the big oni kenbai. We got spots right behind a group of very professional dancers. I could have reached out and touched one dancer's mask, we were that close.
The dance was just as astounding as it was last year.
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