Float festival in Sawara

It’s that time of year again.

For some of you, it might be Halloween but for me, it’s a local autumn festival in my hometown. Instead of putting on a spooky and sinister costume, I wore a “hanten” attire for the festival in Sawara.

Sawara is called“Koedo,” or little Edo and there still remain some old houses and warehouses that were built about 200 years ago. There is Edo like atmosphere in the air and you can easily feel it by walking along the Ono River that runs in the middle of the city.

This year’s festival was very special for local residents. The 311’s earthquake gave a lot of damages on a row of historical old houses along the river and the tiles of their roofs came off. People were wondering if they should have pulled off the festival in this situation.

However, I knew all along that they would hold the festival no matter what may happen because the festival means a lot to them and they can’t live without it.

The local festival is an uplifting event that has been rooted in people’s mind. We’ve realized that its power becomes evident especially in bad times.

For more information about Sawara, May Lee’s website “sushiwong” is very helpful.

http://www.sushiwong.com/Sawara.htm

Slide show of old buildings in Sawara, from May Lee’s website

http://www.sushiwong.com/sawaraslides.htm

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