On the road again…

I’m standing in the lobby of the Aomori Toyoko Inn  using the complimentary internet service while my clothes churn away in the “coin-laundry.”  On Monday I flew from Okinawa to Tokyo then took the shinkansen bullet train to Hachinohe.  

Hachinohe is a city of limited charm and is, all in all, a rather desolate snow-blasted place. Maybe because of this the locals enjoy a good celebration and consequently have a big festival in both summer and winter.  On Tuesday I spent the day photographing the Hachinohe Enburi from the initial shrine ceremony at 8am through to an evening performance of the traditional dance.

The festival and dances are to ask the gods for a good harvest in the coming months, and to remind each other that they must work hard at tilling fields, planting crops and fishing to get enough food to see them through the winter.

  In this  modern age it would be appropriate to now post some photos of the event. I am, however, an analog man in a digital world, which means that the photographs are still on rolls of film in my bag, and won’t be processed until I get to Yodobashi Camera in Niigata tomorrow night. 

Clothes have finished churning.