Gifu Spring Festival

Twice a week, Frank has a private English lesson with 2 women, Machiko and Kyoko. They are very nice and have invited us to do many cultural activities with them while we have been in Japan. Last Saturday, April 7, they invited us to the Gifu Spring Festival.

The festival was held near the Nagara River, only a few minutes from our apartment. When we arrived, Machiko and Kyoko gave us a Japanese-style festival shirt to wear...this meant we were able to take part in pulling the float!

Before beginning the processional, a group picture was taken of everyone involved in the float. We were the only foreigners there, so we were REALLY treated like celebrities! Many people tried to speak to us in English and wanted to take pictures with us. We had a great time! Can you find us in the center?

Before the festival began, it took a while for everyone to get in their place. We watched a kabuki-style puppet show that took place in the float and everyone had a sake toast!


Around 10 am, we were ready to start. We took our places on the rope and everyone started pulling! We went down some neighborhood streets and along a couple of main roads. After every 10 minutes of pulling, everyone would take a break and some women would hand out free snacks and drinks!




Here is a video of the float:

Around 3:00, we went home for a couple of hours, then came back for the night festival. We brought our friends Nikki and Jason (pictured in the left). During the night festival, lanterns were attached to the float, which looked really pretty. We pulled the float for about an hour to the Inaba Shrine. It was a lot of fun, except for the fact that it rained the entire time!


Once we got to the Inaba Shrine, we had a GREAT time! About a dozen other floats were there and many people were dancing and playing drums. There was a large stage step-up with lanterns all across it and vendors were lined down the street selling food. At the end of the night, we watched another puppet show then a fireworks finale! It had also stopped raining, so it was a perfect ending to the day.


Here is a video of the floats at the Inaba Shrine: