For the fourth of fifth sixth time, I joined some friends at the Danjiri Matsuri in Kishiwada. The brother of one of my friends lives on a side street just around the corner from where his neighbourhood’s danjiri passes by on the way to the big parading area downtown. Occasionally, it stops at the corner and the people who pull the float/shrine take a break, tape up blistered fingers, re-tie head-bands and happi-coats, have a sports drink – and a cigarette (this being Japan, after all). This gives one a chance to get a lot of action photos and close-up shots that you don’t usually get at the crowded epicentre of the festival (although you have to be quick – which, you’ll notice, I am not – to take it before the inevitable peace sign shoots up).
Click here to see this year’s photos. Click on the dates to see the photos from 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2003.
Nagaijin 