Princess Road Procession/Festival

Saturday, I headed out again in the morning to go to Hamamatsu (wearing my new Ieaysu shirt - not that anyone saw it because I had my jacket on all day).  I had trouble finding information about the Princess Road Procession (festival...thing) online, such as where it was exactly, how to get there, or what time it started.  I met up with Nicola at the station, and we inquired at the Tourism Information booth.  They gave us the bus number we needed to get, when it was coming, and how far we needed to go.  We also got a little pamphlet about with procession, including a map of the parade route.

The parade started at noon, and it was a bit after 10.  The bus ride to get there was about an hour, according to the tourism ladies.  I called Steven, Joel, and Josh, none of whom answered.  :<  So we got breakfast to kill time and Nicola told me about the welcoming party she had gone to the night before.  I really hope I get invited to one from at least one of my schools.  Some people have been invited, others haven't, according to what I'm hearing.  It also seems that I'm the only one who hasn't had my first day yet!  O_o  Tomorrowwwww!

My totally nutritious breakfast (sorry, Mom):

I got in touch with Steven and Joel who said they would join us later because they couldn't get there before we wanted to leave.  We caught the 11am bus with several old people who looked like they were going to the festival too.  The bus routs was very similar to the one we took to go to the shrine the other day, so I think it must have been close, though the fare was 50yen cheaper this time.

Toward the area where we were looking to get off the bus, the driver announced that he wouldn't be stopping at the Kiga stop and to get off at the next stop for the Himesama Dochuu.  Wellll to be sure that's he he said, I went up to ask as people were getting off.  He was kinda busy, so I ended up asking the old man sitting up front, and the driver overheard and told us that was where we wanted to get off: go over the bridge, turn left, and walk down the path of cherry blossoms. So we got off and started across the bridge.  As the bus went past, he STOPPED, opened the door, and told us the directions again to make sure we understood, which was very sweet of him.

We weren't sure what to do but to follow his directions, though it didn't seem we were near the beginning of the parade route like I had originally hoped (so we could swing over to the end and see it again).

The path was lined with cherry blossoms and lanters.

We came to an area with a few tents and quite a few yomise (yo-me-say, by the way, since I didn't say last time).  As we passed the first big white tent, a man came out to talk to us in English.  He asked where we were from and what we were doing here (the usual) and wanted us to go inside the tent.  Okay... So we went in and there was a large cloth on a table at the far end - they're making a kite for the Hamamatsu festival next month and in honor of the earthquake/tsunami areas, they wanted people to write a message on it.  We selected our markers and did our best, trying to go with the feel everyone else had.  Someone from California wrote on it in English, too!  He saw my camera and wanted to take pictures for us.

Then he gave us each a pack of REALLY NICE postcards with pictures of the parade and princess from years past, a pack of local treats (it looks like tiny toast but is actually a bit like shortbread with orange, butter, honey, and sugar) and sent us on our way, telling us to 'please enjoy Japan.'  <3  Yaaaay people being nice to us!  (Then I saw the 500yen price on the back of the postcards and felt a but guilty, but they were really nice and I don't know that I'm going to send them to anyone.  <_<  Because I like them.  I asked when the parade would be coming to the area and was told about 2:30, so we had plenty of time to look around.

Behind most of the tents, you can see the area where most everyone was sitting eating and watching the performances.

Girls at one of the goldfish booths.  They're dressed to perform.  :>

One of the more colorful takoyaki stalls.  Takoyaki is a food made of  batter, some veggies, and a chunk of octopus cooked into a handy little ball.

We perused the shops and settled on some yaki-mochi like I bought in Hamamatsu the other day.  This one wasn't nearly as yummy!  The rice wasn't smooth and it just wasn't as enjoyable.  :I  I ate a little bit of my bento and we watched the performers on stage.  We looked at the map and figured out that we were actually pretty far down the parade route.  After a horrifying trip to the port-o-potties (which were Japanese-style), we wandered around a bit more.  Nicola bought a Hello Kitty mask with a pinwheel on it, and we both got a 'cheese ball' which was fried dough with was allegedly camembert cheese in the middle.  It was weird and I couldn't finish it.

Cheese ball.

Around that time, Joel and Steven arrived, so we accompanied them to get food, then sat back on the steps to watch the very snazzily dressed band which played the 'Detective Conan' theme and other songs I recognized, but couldn't name.  Josh showed up not much later.

More love for the foreigners time: an older man came up to us and gave Joel a box of food with five chicken wings in it - one for each of us - and an appropriate number of chopsticks on the top.  We were a bit confused, but thanked him and ate them.  Well, Josh ended up actually eating three of them because well, I don't eat chicken, and Joel didn't like it, but we faked it when he turned around and checked on us.  XD  After the chicken was gone, we noticed he had disappeared from his spot nearby.  A few minutes later, he showed up with a huge bag of french fries which he gave to us!  We ate these slowly, lest he feel the need to feed us further.  Then they started packing up the performance seating up front to make room for the parade to stop and dance.  We made our way up to the path where the parade would come, but first we stopped to thank the nice man who gave us food.

With the chicken wings.  Ever tried eating chicken wings with chopsticks?  Exactly.  >.<

Bag o'fries from Tomodachi (props to anyone who gets that.  Though I haven't seen the movie or read the books...)

My stupid boots gave me no traction at all for the hill we were standing on.  Luckily, I was able to kind of get my balance or lean on one of the others until they switched sides of the road.  There was a drunk and rather funny guy to my left and a man standing in the tree behind me.

When the parade finally came, processing slowly down the path of cherry blossoms, it was pretty darn cool. Everyone's wigs looked great (at least from a distance - once you got closer, it was very clear they were all wigs) and their outfits were very colorful and fun to see.

We saw the front of the procession long before we saw the princess because she got bombarded by the press (I saw NHK press badges) and hobbiest photographers a little way down the path.  When they finally finished, we got to see her.  ^_^  Of course, she's not a real princess, and I don't know what the selection process for being the princess is like.  This is just a re-enactment (celebrating its 60th anniversary) of what it would have been like for a princess to travel in the Edo period.

The princess was followed by some close attendants, and umbrella-carrier, her doctor, and palanquin (should she choose to ride instead of walk), more attendants, her belongings she brought with her on the trip,  and more guards.  After they went past, we made our way back down to the stage area, to try to get a good view of the dancing.  At this time, Josh went to get something to eat and came back with squid on a stick and some other people from our branch (plus a med student living in the area who went to University of Michigan).

The parade came down into the area and slowly made its way around until the princess was in front of the stage while the announcer introduced each role being portrayed.  Then all the retainers and attendants sat down, but the people who had led the parade (who introduced themselves as something or another to do with Hamamatsu - probably government), the princess, and her primary attendants.  The guys made a speech, then the princess and attendants were interviewed briefly.

The girl who was seated in front of where I was standing.  I couldn't really hear/understand most of the interview, so I took pictures instead.

The rest of the parade members were offered canned tea with straws so they wouldn't mess up their makeup, and some people went around fixing wigs and makeup.

The vanguard samurai were the first to dance.  It was very slow and deliberate as most traditional dances in Japan are.

Then the ladies danced two dances.  I noticed that the music during the dances said something about 'ohimesama dochuu,' which I took to mean that they were written particularly for this event, though maybe it was named after the song.  No idea.  Either way, it was fun.  Again, slow movements, though not as slow as the men.  The first dance was with a spray of flowers in one hand and a wreath of them with bells included in the other hand.  The second was just hands moving.  Some of the girls seemed to be enjoying it and at least smiled a little bit.  Others were either too focused on the task at hand or completely miserable.

After the dancing, people were allowed into the area to take pictures of the princess and her attendants by the palanquin or to talk to and get pictures of/with other members of the procession.  I ended up taking pictures as usual, and didn't end up in any myself.  TT^TT

The one on the far right is a young samurai.  Apparently, this role is always portrayed by a female, even though the character is male.

After a while, the announcer got back on the mic, urging the parade to reassemble for its final part of the procession and the non-parade people to go back away from the parade so it could go.  We started back toward the bus.  I took a picture of a man playing a tin whistle by a tree.. he looked like a leprechaun.  ^_^  We split from our fellows who live in the area and after a few more pictures of the cherry blossoms, my camera battery died.

We went back into Hamamatsu for dinner.  A nice lady at the bus stop wanted to talk to us (this time in Japanese).  There were come cute little girls on the bus who were staring at us, we smiled and waved and I made faces at them until they laughed.  Then they kept commenting on Nicola's Hello Kitty mask.  We got dinner at the department store above the station.  I got some cold ramen which you dipped into an oily tomato-y sauce to eat.  It was better than it sounds.

I got a couple of books at the book store because they didn't have them at Book-Off (Gate7 books 1 and 2 and Polar Bear's Cafe) and went to Bic Camera to get an ironing board which I desperately needed to acquire before starting school.  The prices increased exponentially for a few inches more of room, so I got the smallest one, which is possibly two feet long and stand about 8 inches off the floor.

I guess the people on the train home felt that I had reached my quota for gaijin love for the day because they took to other route: 'don't-touch-it-it-might-be-diseased'.  When my train finally got to the platform (it was cold although it wasn't late, I had a 15 minute wait after realizing I was on the wrong train and getting off the other at the last moment), it was empty - just beginning its run.  I choose a seat a little way in, next to one of the holding bars, which some look at as enough separation to not straight-space (that means go every-other and the term really doesn't apply here, but I use it in a general sense).  No one sat on either side of me.  There were even people standing because the train was full otherwise (there was one empty seat down the way a bit on the other side next to a student that no one took either), but even at subsequent stations, people got on, but no one sat by me.  So I had ALL THE SPACE, even though I tried to keep it to just one seat, in case someone did want to sit down.

After the walk home from the station - which I managed in about twenty minutes, which is exactly as long as my train ride was - I realized that I had a hole in one of my socks.  >.<  I've only worn them a few times, so I'm highly displeased.  And over-the-knee socks are expensive!  Verrrry annoyed.  I guess they're burnable trash... (speaking of which - I really need to get a feel for the trash system.  I've got it all sorted in my room, but don't understand when to put it out and it's getting ridiculous.  I have piles of 'trash' most of which is plastic. o.o)

For mah nerds out there:  I watched the first episodes of "Polar Bear's Cafe" which is adorable (and I want to cosplay Panda), "Hiiro no Kakera" which looks like it's going to be stupid, but I'll probably watch it because I've watched a lot of shows like that and I'm kind of immune to them (besides, the uniform is really cute), and clicked through the first episode of "Sengoku Collection" which looks absolutely heinous.  Taking advantage of my sparkly internet here, I watched "Sengoku Pasadise" episodes 1-5 and it's lolsy.  :>  I finished Brave10.  I liked the lords, but none of the retainers (except maaaybe Rokuou), so maybe I'll give reading it a go.  There are a couple of other new shows I want to check out - what are you guys watching?

Next few entries: Shinto wedding and first few days of school~

In other news:  One of my neighbors really likes to whistle.  I find this rather annoying.