Matsuri Tsukuba 2008

A while back I said that I was going to start putting more personal/non-car stuff on this blog. Well finally I had a little time to go through some photos that I took at the Tsukuba Natsu Matsuri late last month so decided to post them up here.

In the summer, nearly every city in Japan holds a festival of sorts. I guess the closest thing you could compare it to in the states would be the city or county fair although there are a lot of differences. For example the town matsuri is usually held right in the center of town and the streets are blocked off for parades and other activities and its free to get in.

Besides the parades, there are tons of booths selling traditional Japanese carnival foods like takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakisoba and other good stuff. Of course there is also plenty of delicious draft beer on tap.

The Tsukuba Matsuri was really fun except for the fact that it was raining the whole time. Damn, summer weather in Japan sucks. Or at least it did this year.

Anyways, here are a few pics I snapped of the parade before I got worried about my camera getting screwed up in the rain.

The gloomy looking weather isn't really a good match for a summer festival, but oh well. Here you can see the parade making its way through the center of the city and all the people gathered to check it out. I have never seen this many people in Tsukuba before.

Some traditional Japanese summer wear.

Because of the rain, all of the floats were covered in plastic covers which made them a kind of difficult to photograph.

I am not well versed in traditional Japanese culture, but these things look pretty damn cool.

El toro?

All the "floats" are carried by people and it looks like pretty hard work.

Here some members of the Ibaraki Golden Golds baseball team are taking a quick break from carrying theirs.

Sweet cat.

There are a few more photos I uploaded right here.

I decided I'm going to buy a new point and shoot camera so I can take more photos of cool stuff I see for this blog. Hopefully it will become a cool mix of car stuff, Japan stuff, music, or whatever else.

I promise I will update again very soon...

Comments

[jae bueno]

Mike, great photos! Thanks for sharing! Hope all is well.

[Alex]

Finally an update Mike ! I know you're busy with Speedhunters...
I actually enjoy more your personal site. Keep it up !

[leongsoon]

Hey, the floats are in wraps! How cool is that!

[Quail]

Wow, fantastic photos! Love the Bulls

[dimaks]

too bad i missed this event, and missed taking photos too, as you did.

[Gan]

ur blog are great! i`m ur brand new hardcore fans from now heheh