NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉

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2007/7/12


さぬき高松まつり Sanuki-takamatsu-matsuri Sanuki Takamatsu Festival

Jp En

The Sanuki Takamatsu Festival, held in Takamatsu, is the representative festival of Kagawa Prefecture, and one of Shikoku's 4 major festivals.

This festival is the most popular in Takamatsu, and features a dance known as Sou-Odori as its main event. In Sou-Odori, 4000 people participate in the Takamatsu Dance and the Sanuki Dance in Chuo Park.

Festivities are further enlivened by local performing arts, parades, and Udon noodle-eating contests known as the Udon-lympics!

The climax of this festival is one of the largest fireworks displays in Western Japan. 5,000 fireworks are set off, filling the night sky with colorful sparkling lights.

The Sanuki Takamatsu Festival is a big event filled with festive fun.
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2007/1/23


屋台 Yatai Yatai: Streetside Stalls in Fukuoka

Jp En

At night in Nagahama, lines of some 200 yatai form here and along the Naka River in Nakasu, Tenjin, in Fukuoka.

Yatai such as these first appeared in the mid-Edo period, when politics were stable. As the economy developed, eating out became more common and in big cities, restaurants, selling sushi for example, set up covered stands in front of their premises to sell food to passers-by.

Then, because stands could be moved to places with large crowds, wheeled-stands were used to take the food to where the business was. Customers ranged from merchants, craftsmen, low-class samurais to tramps, and stalls were very casual places to eat in--just  like today's fast-food restaurants.

Fukuoka yatai offer many kinds of foods, such as Chinese noodles in soup, 'oden', grilled chicken on skewers, meat roasted on a hot plate, and fritters. In Tokyo, stalls have the image of more down-at-heel off-street business, but in Fukuoka, many stalls compete with each other and are stars of food culture here.
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2007/1/10


むぎや祭り Mugiyamatsuri Mugiya Festival

Jp En

Every year in the middle of September, a folk song event called Mugiyamatsuri (Mugiya Festival) takes place over two days in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture. The melody played during the festival is called 'mugiyafushi' and was composed by farmers working in fields of wheat ('mugi'). The melody emanates sadness and sorrow, but with the linear, brisk dancing, the result is a serene and meticulous collaboration of sound and movement.

About 800 years ago, the once-powerful Heike clan fell after their defeat at the battle of Dannoura. The Heike clan sought refuge in a secluded area called Echugokayama. The Heiki people became farmers, and sang the mugiyafushi as they harvested the land.

It is said that the 'mugiyafushi' originated from a song from Wajima on the Noto Peninsula, that was sung while making noodles. The merchants who sold noodles and wheat would travel from Noto to Echu, spreading songs such as the 'notomugiyafushi' and 'madara'. These songs eventually made their way to Gokayama, where they became known as the 'echumugiyafushi'.

Today, events such as performance competitions between citizens, as well as the 'mugiya odori' dance, take place on a special stage placed within the Johanabetsuin Zentokuji.
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NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉 - 日本語に切り替える NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉 - to english

"Nippon-kichi" leads you to places, people and things that reveal a certain Japanese aesthetic.

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