Recent times have seen a revival of local festivals in Japan, especially in the rural areas, probably because people wanted to forget the sluggish economy and come back to more basic social gatherings after long years spent away in dehumanizing cities.
My good friend Neil had mentioned that his neighborhood in Miwa was organizing their 5th Annual Sakura Festival yesterday so I rode my bicycle for a good 45 minutes from home till the other side of the Abe River in Shizuoka City!
I left my bicycle at Neil’s place and walked till the Miwa Primary School where I found this banner announcing the Cherry Blossoms Festival!
For once that the weather was fine I walked on the causeway along the Abe River.
It is still winter and the water was pretty dry in all senses of the word!
I finally espied the site!
The Festival has been scheduled on the 3rd Sunday of February whatever the conditions or weather.
Unfortunately the last three weeks have witnessed unseasonal cold and the early-blooming Kawazu Cherry Trees had not blossomed yet!
For a closer view!
On the other hand the Japanese plum trees were still very much in flowers!
And the kumquats were everywhere for a picking!
We are full in leek season! Great to fight colds!
Plenty of beautiful colors to be found in private gardens!
But someone had made sure we had some cherry blossoms on site!
Neil had been designated as the sound engineer of the event!
You can’t have a festival in Japan without drums!
I wonder what those fox masks are for!
Robust ladies!
Oranges and tea on sale!
Notice the “dustbins”!
The site was small but certainly crowded!
Local bonsai on sale!
Local farmers selling their produce!
What are they preparing here?
Tonjiru soup for free!
Very thoughtful of the organizers!
Ashikubo Green Tea!
Sweet dango/balls!
Boxed lunches and wagashi cakes!
Chirashizushi bento!
All bentos are really home-made before put on sale!
Okonomiyaki!
Grilled sausages!
Deep-fried sweetmeat buns!
Yakisoba!
Candy Floss!
Grilled mochi cakes!
Local Benihoppe strawberries!
Home-made umeboshi!
They even had a small flea market!
Oden!
Dorayaki!
Very traditional dance!
Another very traditional dance!
And very traditional drinking!
RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES
Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, 47 Japanese Farms Through The Eyes of Its Rural Communities, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento,Adventures in Bento Making, American Bent, Beanbento, Bento No, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box,
Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Cooking Cute, Timeless Gourmet, Bento Bug, Ideal Meal, Bentosaurus, Mr. Foodie (London/UK), Ohayo Bento,
Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
Peach Farm Studio
Taiko! Hah!
dragonlife
Very populat anywhere, aren’t they?
Peach Farm Studio
Yes, indeed!
dragonlife
I heard they often have demonstrations in the States!
Peach Farm Studio
Oh, yes. Big one in Berkeley put on by http://www.sftaiko.com!
dragonlife
Thanks for the info!
Peach Farm Studio
You are very welcome.
Charles
Wonderful photos – I had no idea kumquats grew in Japan actually. Makes me long for the blossom trees here to burst into bloom 🙂
dragonlife
In Shizuoka they are everywhere as many houses use them for garden decoration!
Pierre
ça faisait longtemps!! rafraichissante cette balade nippone !pierre
dragonlife
Cher Pierre!
Bonjour!
En faisait ca faisait un bail!
Comment vas-tu!
Bien amicalement,
Robert-Gilles
francesaaguilar
Thank you for your comments! I found your blog randomly when trying to research something about Japanese food and the picture of the veggie nigiri was the very first thing to catch my eye’s interest. You have many great articles in your blog. So far, my favorites include the tofu recipes and matcha tea posts. I also enjoyed the pictures of the festival food in this post which I so miss from my recent re-visit to Japan!
dragonlife
Dear Frances!
Greetings!
You are most welcome!
Don’t forget to notify me about your new postings!
Best regards,
Robert-Gilles
Sissi
So many delicacies! You remind me I have a “dying” daikon in the fridge. Unfortunately not as cute as the green and whites ones on your photo.
dragonlife
Why don’t you make pickles with it?
Sissi
Thank you for the suggestion!
dragonlife
You are most welcome, dear Sissi!
yuet-ching
What a beautiful japanese festival scene~~ Thanks!!
dragonlife
It was very small but very convivial!