Yakuza Craziness!

Oh my gosh - we went to the festival today, Kanja Matsuri, and it was AMAZING. It is one of the three largest in Tokyo, and we were very keen to check it out. We decided to go take it in from a distance and see how large the crowds were before diving in with Master Jackson. Baby comes first, of course!! Let me tell you there were a lot of people, but it was the most civilized crowd we have ever been a part of. Everyone was so polite - no pushing, no cutting across your path, no nastiness. There weren't any loud mouths or obnoxious drunks. This was no concert crowd! It was so pleasant and so cool. We felt so honoured to be witnessing this celebration! Although anyone in town can go, it just felt so special that we felt lucky to be involved. It was a celebration of the neighborhood, for the neighborhood. Little children were dressed in traditional clothing, and they were ADORABLE. They carried their own little portable shrines through the streets. There were larger shrines carried by larger people haha. And of course there were the much anticipted Yakuza, for which Eric was ECSTATIC to see. Check his blog!




(The photo is us in front of the parade, with two Yakuza and a portable shrine to the top right of my hat!) Oh so much to say, but I can't type much right now.

The pictures (we took 400 - not kidding you!) are great. Obviously we can't post all of them here, but we will choose some highlights and figure out a way to post more on Crunchy Grouper. I'll have to ask Eric all of the specifics, like the exact name of this festival, the Temple, town etc. I will revise and update tomorrow after our cleaning crew comes ;)

Hugs to all my Homies!