Since I already started talking about my time in Hokkaido, I might as well continue with the theme. Summer is festival season in Japan. In every town, village and city there's at least one big festival during the summer months. I'm not even going to pretend I know what all those festivals are held for but I do know I love them. Japanese festivals are just amazing: street food, fireworks, ban-dancing, the works! Everything is just a hundred times more awesome than usual! I've seen several different festivals during my trips to Japan but the most memorable one has to be the one in Onuma.
It was in August, I don't remember the exact date. By that time I'd already seen two festivals but apparently this new one was going to be much bigger that the others and our volunteer group leader told us that we were going to help with the festival. I had no idea what she meant by that but seeing as we were volunteers I already assumed that we'd gave to do something to help out. So, when the morning of the festival came, I got dressed as usual and headed out with the others, not suspecting a thing.
It was raining in the morning - not heavily but it seemed like it would last for a while. We got to the spot where the festival was supposed to begin and found out that we would be spending the whole day outdoors. Oh yay! Because that's exactly what I want to do on a chilly and rainy morning! The locals gave us some traditional clothes and separated us into two groups: guys and girls. Then they treated us all to a small cup of sake and gave us our assignment. So there were these small shrines standing on huge wooden frames and apparently our job was to carry them across the village, stop at certain designated spots, twirl the thing around a few times and then head off to another spot. It was some sort of... uh... religious custom? That was supposed to bring prosperity to wherever we went? Honestly, I don't remember exactly what it all meant but I knew it had some significance. The shrines might have looked small but with the decorations and the wooden frame it was supported on, it must have weighed at least 100 kilos if not more. My guess is more. Sure, we weren't the only ones carrying it. A bunch of women from the village gave us a hand. But it was still pretty heavy and carrying it across town in the rain did not seem like an enjoyable enterprise. Still, we were volunteers, there to help out... 
What started as a daunting task soon became a magical journey as we discovered that not all was bad. Sure, the shrine we were carrying was heavy and the road was long but there was a bunch of us joking around, chatting and having fun. After the first stop where we had to run around in circles with the shrine thingy and bob it up and down, we got to set it down for a moment and enjoy the buffet that was set out for us. There were some snacks, water, juice and of course alcohol. On a rainy day like that it was very much welcomed and I helped myself to some beer and chips before moving on. I soon discovered that the whole festival was like that: we would reach some sort of store or other public spot and the people there would offer us food, drinks and mostly alcohol. The entire point was to get the shrine-carriers drunk so it would be easier and much more fun to carry those things around. Suddenly I didn't feel bad about drinking before noon anymore and the road ahead looked much more fun.
After being treated to beer, wine, sake and even champagne we reached the center of the village where suddenly the guys were looking for volunteers from among the girls. Volunteers for what? I had no idea but I was buzzed enough to do it, whatever it was. So I followed some Japanese guy to the men's shrine and turned out that they needed a girl to climb onto the wooden frame and stand in front of the shrine while they carried it around town. Hmm... Standing on top of a wet and heavy wooden frame with nothing to hold onto while a bunch of drunk guys carry you around town, twirl you and try to toss you off the thing? That sounded... awesome! I still don't know why they wanted a girl to stand on the shrine but I don't really care either. Perhaps it was some sort of tradition. Perhaps they just wanted to have fun. Or maybe it was some strange ritual and they were offering the girl to Satan. All I know is that it was absolutely amazing! And crazy! Definitely crazy!
I wasn't the first girl up there - they gave all the volunteer girls a shot. My first ride lasted only a few minutes and wasn't all that eventful but standing on top felt wonderful. A part of me realized that the wooden boards I was standing on were wet and slippery and my hold on the shrine wasn't all that stable. Also, I noticed that the guys carrying the shrine were getting pretty tipsy and the shrine was swaying from side to side. It was great! After a while it was someone else's turn on top and then another girl's until all of us had been there at least once. But there was still a long way to go and a lot more to drink. Again it was time to find a volunteer who would be willing to climb up there for a second time. Guess who was the first in line.
So there I was again, standing on the slippery wooden grate and waving my arms around as the guys carrying the shrine were literally jumping and swaying the thing from side to side. Yup, I wasn't even holding onto the thing because I felt invincible. I guess it was mostly because of the alcohol but also the atmosphere, the people and the adrenaline rush I got from standing high above everyone else made me feel fearless and... even powerful. I was having the time of my life, yelling out random Japanese words that everyone else was chanting but I didn't know the meanings of. Didn't even matter. Sure, I was completely drenched by that point - because it hadn't stopped raining for one moment - and doing something kind of stupid and completely reckless but I didn't feel the cold or the rain or the fear... I just felt... happy. I was a part of this crazy drunken ritual and I was loving it! Even when we crossed a bridge and the guys started to jump on one leg, making the shrine sway like crazy, I had no doubt in my mind that everything would be fine. And it was!
By the time the festival was over it had almost stopped raining. We were treated to more food and drinks and because we were all wet and half frozen we headed home to relax and have a short nap before the after party that was going to take place in a few hours. I got back to my room, changed out of my dripping clothes and crawled onto my tiny little futon on the floor. I woke later at 3 pm with a hangover. Oh yeah, did I mention that the festival started at 8 in the morning? Because it did. And that was the first and last time in my life I've gotten that drunk before 5 pm. Then again, it's always 5 pm somewhere, isn't it. (Fun fact: that was the first time in my life I heard that phrase and I've been using it ever since. Not every day, of course... I don't have a problem!)
I wasn't the first girl up there - they gave all the volunteer girls a shot. My first ride lasted only a few minutes and wasn't all that eventful but standing on top felt wonderful. A part of me realized that the wooden boards I was standing on were wet and slippery and my hold on the shrine wasn't all that stable. Also, I noticed that the guys carrying the shrine were getting pretty tipsy and the shrine was swaying from side to side. It was great! After a while it was someone else's turn on top and then another girl's until all of us had been there at least once. But there was still a long way to go and a lot more to drink. Again it was time to find a volunteer who would be willing to climb up there for a second time. Guess who was the first in line.
So there I was again, standing on the slippery wooden grate and waving my arms around as the guys carrying the shrine were literally jumping and swaying the thing from side to side. Yup, I wasn't even holding onto the thing because I felt invincible. I guess it was mostly because of the alcohol but also the atmosphere, the people and the adrenaline rush I got from standing high above everyone else made me feel fearless and... even powerful. I was having the time of my life, yelling out random Japanese words that everyone else was chanting but I didn't know the meanings of. Didn't even matter. Sure, I was completely drenched by that point - because it hadn't stopped raining for one moment - and doing something kind of stupid and completely reckless but I didn't feel the cold or the rain or the fear... I just felt... happy. I was a part of this crazy drunken ritual and I was loving it! Even when we crossed a bridge and the guys started to jump on one leg, making the shrine sway like crazy, I had no doubt in my mind that everything would be fine. And it was!
By the time the festival was over it had almost stopped raining. We were treated to more food and drinks and because we were all wet and half frozen we headed home to relax and have a short nap before the after party that was going to take place in a few hours. I got back to my room, changed out of my dripping clothes and crawled onto my tiny little futon on the floor. I woke later at 3 pm with a hangover. Oh yeah, did I mention that the festival started at 8 in the morning? Because it did. And that was the first and last time in my life I've gotten that drunk before 5 pm. Then again, it's always 5 pm somewhere, isn't it. (Fun fact: that was the first time in my life I heard that phrase and I've been using it ever since. Not every day, of course... I don't have a problem!)
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