Hyakumangoku Lanterns

Last weekend we attended Kanazawa's Hyakumangoku festival (translates roughly to 150-million-kilograms-of-rice festival), which is probably the largest Kanazawa festival of the year. It is the celebration of the entrance of Lord Toshiie Maeda, Daimyo, into Kanazawa. The area around Kanazawa that he was now ruler of produced hyakumangoku of rice, which is why the festival is so named. That was several hundred years ago, but they still use the excuse to throw a serious party every year. There are a few different parts of the festival celebrated over a Friday night and the whole day Saturday, and even a little on Sunday. We attended two parts, which we're going to break into two posts.

One big thing done on Friday night is to float lanterns down the Asano river for the aesthetic appreciation of several thousand people. We biked downtown after work and grabbed some takeout, then walked over to one of the older districts of Kanazawa, which features numerous temples and houses constructed in the traditional style. The Asano river runs by this district, and has grassy banks on both sides. Apparently they dredge the river mud up into winding banks inside the canal walls to speed the water flow and create pleasing curved paths for the lanterns to follow as they float down the river. The lanterns mostly come from elementary school students, with some larger lanterns in fanciful shapes being produced by sports teams and clubs higher up the educational food chain. It was very crowded in some areas, but we just kept walking until we found enough space to sit and watch without being too much disturbed, where we ate our burgers (Ana got a teriyaki burger - does that appease the sense of eating Asian in Asia?) and watched the lanterns float by in the darkness. Pictures available on Flikr.

River at Sunset

Main pavilion and lanterns

Taiko