Hydrangea Festival

On June 14, we caught the last day of the Kaisei Hydrangea Festival. It's a very small, very local event on the agricultural plain across the river from a forgotten town on a one-track rail line.

Hydrangeas are usually seen on roadsides and in parks, gardens and temple precincts. At Kaisei you can see them in a different context. Hydrangea bushes have been planted along the irrigation stream and between the rice paddies, and the festival is a chance to wander among them, enjoying the varied blooms. Beer and snacks and local crafts were for sale. On that final afternoon, a loud jazz band played, and along the paths, a good-sized mikoshi portable shrine was being carried and bounced by men and women of all ages in varied states of inebriation. Their coats identified which team they belonged to and from where they came: traveling to carry portable shrines at local festivals is a weekend hobby.

There's a short video of the festival and the flowers, but not the mikoshi, on this site. Watching it is very nearly, but not quite, as good as being there yourself.

--Julian