Hyakumangoku Parade

The big event for the Saturday of the Hyakumangoku Festival is the parade, which starts at the train station and ends at Kanazawa castle, next to Kenroku'en. After we went to Kenroku'en in the morning to see iris, we walked back downtown and had lunch at an Indian restaurant which turned out be be really good and have large portions. Most of the staff was actually Indian, and therefore spoke English, which was a nice touch (the English menus conspicuously were not full of questionable translations too).

We ate so much and spent so long doing it that when we were finished the festivities for the beginning of the parade had already commenced, and thousands of people crowded the intersection in front of the train station. We found that this was fairly pointless, as nearly every angle from which one might possibly watch the taiko drummers and the like was obstructed by platforms for TV cameras and sound equipment. It was clear that the TV audience had priority - sidewalks were roped off and then left empty as routes for TV personnel to walk back and forth while the police kept the people there back against the buildings. So, what do the Japanese do in this situation? They pull out their cell phones and other portable TV devices, and watch the proceedings on TV while they stand where they easily could have seen it live were the TV dudes not in the way. Classic Japan.

The media blocked the view

Watching the TV version of the event right in front of them

Standing there wasn't working for us, so we went further down the parade route and found a shaded spot where we could see well and sit down when we wanted to.

The firemen / acrobats from an earlier post performed during the parade.

Bellhops's Union marching band (probably not)

Many individuals in the parade had clearly fortified themselves for duty with alcohol, but this being Japan that was OK / expected during festival participation.

Some aspects of the parade were clearly still being worked out during the parade - tech crew stopped by to draw marks on places where different groups should perform. This is an unusually large tech group for the situation as one guy with chalk appears to be all that the was required.

"Samurai" were in evidence. Don't mind the swastikas, the Japanese had them first.

As were female noble types. Anyone who wants to can sign up to be samurai or noblewoman in the parade, and they provide costumes. People have said that the whole process is long and boring though - we'll probably not sign up for that.

Demons walked the streets, with nearby priest to keep things under control.

The official stand-in for the long-dead lord being celebrated by the parade

The parade moved very slowly, with large and conspicuous gaps between groups. We've heard that this is usual, though I don't understand why. They definitely could have sped the whole thing up dramatically without losing anything. I'm sure the people in costumes would appreciate a 2-3 hour parade instead of a 5-6 hour one. They were probably performing for judges or something along the way, though it was quite annoying to sit for 20 minutes between groups. We watched for several hours before experiencing parade fatigue and heading home. Worth seeing the once, though we might just have a cookout at home next year, and watch the TV version over the internet. Check out pictures and several videos on Flikr.