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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

The quarelling shrines



The insane custom that is the Katsuyama 'quarrelling' danjiri festival (勝山喧嘩だんじり) was one of the outstanding cultural experiences of my life in Japan. Danjiri - portable shrines dressed up to look like carts-cum-boats with branches attached - are pulled by liquored-up townsfolk in a sort of destruction derby crossed with tug of war. Just watch a bit of the video.


No surprise that one of the locals we knew told us that her husband had lost a finger, the chances of which seem pretty high even without the amount of sake and beer that is consumed in the hours proceeding the evening of the actual festivities.

The video doesn't really do the atmosphere justice. Banks of spectators crammed on either side of the street in a beautifully preserved historical precinct; chanting participants (Oii-saaa! Oii-saaa!); constant clanging of the 'shrine' bells inside the danjiri and beating of drums. Then the two danjiri are propelled by each team in a mad rush and - smack! Typically for this kind of thing, no-one really seems to care who wins. 

This was the inspiration for the November track for my album Sestu (though I know the actual event, as in the video title above, is held in October. More on the tune itself in the next post.

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