The past two days were Nagasaki's annual Night Market Festival, called Nagasaki Yoichi (長崎夜市)which literally means...Nagasaki night market. :) I went with Carley, Mai, and Mai's friend Meng. It was so fun!! Like the previous festival I attended, all the families come out in full-force, bringing their little kids decked out in yukatas and jinbeis (Japanese traditional clothing) so you can always see their little bow-bedecked behinds running about from stall to stall. I saw three Seido girls: Mayo (2nd grade), Hohoko (2nd grade), and Moana (1st grade.) Moana was like "HI REBEC!!!!!" as she was passing. Cutest thing ever. I'm really gonna miss them. After browsing through the numerous little street shops, the highlight of the evening started: I don't know the actual name, so I'm going to affectionately call it the SHIP-CARRYING CEREMONY. Dozens of local townsmen, all wearing identical starched white tabi shoes, shorts, headbands, and jacket-tops, use their shoulders to carry a giant wooden ship-of-a-stage (grouped all around, the way coffin-bearers carry a coffin.) Inside the ship/stage 4 boys sit, banging drums elaborately and in perfect rhythm. One, two, THREE, (rest.) One, two, THREE, (rest.) On each beat there is a specific move and they execute it perfectly every time. One each beat the ship-bearers yell-sing a rousing chant.
Yo-yo-YOOOOOOO-A! Each time, through hundreds of cycles. They walk like this through the streets, ending up at the main stage, where they start doing tricks, walking back and forth with the ship, lifting it and hurtling it mid-air temporarily. Through the time, the young boys never break their drumming rhythm. At either end of the ship run around flag-bearing boys, carrying and twirling around multicolored flags to signify the beginning and end of the procession. This went on for quite a while until, all of a sudden, (and I don't know how they all knew exactly when to cue this) they stopped. And the captive audience burst into applause.
Other than that, I enjoyed buying Japanese-style kakigoori (shaved ice) with green tea flavor and red bean paste inside (SO GOOD!) and taking lots of pictures of the beautiful lanterns that dotted the sides of the river.
A lantern: Nagasaki Yoichi.
The scene by meganebashi (spectacles bridge.) Lots of lanterns, shops, people and revelry.
Me at the scene.
A hula performance! I was enthralled.
A little one gets some dessert.
The performers rambling down the street, ready to go! HOO-YEAH!
My beautiful shaved ice. Mmm. I want to eat it again and again. It's perfect for those hot summer nights. And so much better than America's equivalent: fried twinkies. Fried Oreos. Fried frog legs. Fried fry.
The performers taking a break.
Shoulder-hoisted again and ready to go!
The free tea and sugar-covered-gummy-seaweed they gave us. :) They were so nice. ("They" being the cute little Japanese grandmas working the tea-and-gummy-seaweed-stand.)
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