Yosakoi Saturday
June 7, 2008 – 9:34 amI managed to get myself over to Sumikawa Park (澄川公園) today for a few hours to see the sights and take in the festivities. Our weather here took a turn for the worse, unfortunately, the day after I recorded the podcast this week. I think I may have jinxed it. My apologies to anyone affected negatively by the weather this weekend in Sapporo.
I kid, I kid. The weather today really wasn’t that bad. It was a tad gloomy, a bit drizzly, and a scoche crisp. It was pretty ideal conditions for a long walk to place I had never been with a map I didn’t really know how to use.
I did get lost once, but I found my bearings again. Sapporo has liberally-placed bus stops, and so I could kind of place myself on the map in my head by seeing which bus stop I was nearing. Once I got close enough, I used what I like to call the ice cream truck method. I could hear the Yosakoi music wafting in the air up the hills and down the streets of Sumikawa. It didn’t take me long to find from that point.
The grounds at Sumikawa Kouen were not spectacularly crowded, but there were enough people to make it interesting. The festivities were being carried out in a parade-like fashion. The park used to be some kind of military base. So there’s a lot of cool things to see there like the mothballed mass transit cars across the street from the entrance. As well, inside the park, there’s some real paved road with these gigantic grass clearings on either side.
The Yosakoi groups would line up on one end then go one after another. There was just enough length to the stretch of roadway that two Yosakoi teams could perform at the same time. Each team performed twice, once for the people at the far end of the park and then once for the people at the closer end.
The spectators were watching from the grass clearing, and there were also little booths to grab food from. It was a lot like how a small event might be at the county fairgrounds in the United States. Except, I believe the food here was better. They had yakitori, yakisoba, hot dog, and beer vendors there to serve everyone. Sure, I’m used to a gyro and a lemon shake-up when I go to the fair, but it was pretty neat to have really decent noodles and chicken with a cheap Sapporo beer while watching the parade of dancers. The vendors, mostly nice old ladies, got a kick out of the foreigner who was able to speak Japanese.
I took a boatload of pictures for you guys, and so please take a look at the ever-expanding Photos section. I added over 50 new ones today, and there should be more going up in the next few days.
As a special bonus, I even took video of some of the dance troupes. It’s just video from my digital camera, but I’m pleasantly surprised with the way it turned out. If there is interest, I may do more videos. I love photography, but sometimes you need movement and sound to really get the flavor of something.
As always, don’t be afraid to ask questions.
