Kawagoe Festival

Masked dancer on one of the festival floats

I was enjoying a lazy Saturday in October, watching the clouds blow by, when I was seized by a strong craving for takoyaki. Anyone who knows me well knows I'm very fond of octopus, and these small, round dumplings are one of my favorite Japanese snacks. Chunks of octopus, pickled ginger and scallions are stirred into an egg batter and grilled waffle-style in hot molds. Garnished with dried fish and seaweed, they are amazing. A crispy, savory shell encasing a steaming, custardy filling full of flavor: the mellow, chewy octopus balances the pungent onion and ginger. Luckily a 360-year-old festival was going on twenty minutes from my house, with plenty of takoyaki vendors on hand to feed the crowds.

Kawagoe Festival street scene

The Kawagoe Festival dates to 1648, when the tradition of street processions featuring music and religious artifacts began. The modern festival is a huge event, attracting a million visitors over two days during the third weekend in October. The streets of central Kawagoe are lined with hundreds of stalls selling food and drink: steamed potatoes slathered with butter and miso, takoyaki, skewers of marinated meat and scallion grilling over charcoal, fried noodles, chocolate-covered bananas, jugs of sake, streetside cocktail bars and the delicious local beer, Coedo. As interesting as the people-watching and food are, everyone comes for the festival floats. 

Each one is unique: two or three stories high, elaborately decorated with finely embroidered drapery and painted religious scenes, hung with lanterns and topped by a costumed doll. They sway slowly through the city on creaking wooden wheels, pulled by crews of more than a dozen straining at long, colorful ropes. The main body of the float is an unseen room behind the stage, from which the musicians and masked dancer emerge to entertain the crowds. Expressionless drummers sit cross-legged behind their instruments, banging away incessantly while other musicians, hunched beneath a low awning, keep time on small bells or wail away on high-pitched flutes. Confined to such a small space, the single dancer relies on emphatic head and hand movements as they duck and sway to the booming and squealing.

 Float being pulled by shrine crew wearing sashes

The floats often remain stationary for a time, playing to a local crowd, before moving on again. When two or more of these floats chance to meet at an intersection or square, a competition ensues. Each float's dancers and drummers try to outdo the other, to the delight of the crowds pressing in from every direction. Kawagoe itself is a beautiful city, known as 'Little Edo' for its well-preserved architecture, picturesque alleys and historical ambiance. A fitting venue for pounding drums, blazing paper lanterns, robed shrine-pullers and dancers in carved wooden masks. This was one of the most interesting and colorful Japanese experiences I've been lucky to enjoy. You can find sushi all over the world, but this amazing festival only happens once a year in Kawagoe. Check it out!

 Two floats battle it out

 These guys watch for overhead wires and direct the pullers on the ground