Dance, Sushi Wonderland

Nakameguro is the next station up the river (and past the swimming pool) from Gotanda. This is where I would run to when I had plans to tackle the half-marathon. Back in the beginning of August, I heard there would be a small parade so we went down on the Saturday night to check it out. I'm so glad we did because it turned out to be one of the best I've seen.

Saturday saw 20 or so groups performing traditional dances from Tokushima prefecture, famous for kabuki play style with shamisen (old guitars). They entertained audiences along one street, back along a parallel road, short stop for a drink, and then back around; when their song finishes, they start again. This lasted for 3 hours!






Originally, these dances were performed as part of a competition but now it is just for fun.

It was so much fun that we went back on Sunday for the Yosakoi Matsuri type of dances. These were much more upbeat, and I couldn't imagine the stamina or determination to keep going from 6PM to 9PM.



My favourite was a group of about 100 high-school kids who dressed up for prom and did a song rather wonderfully telling you to "take the cheese - it's delicious". I'm not sure what it could mean in a metaphorical sense, but in a literal sense, I'm right there with them. Grab all the cheese you can. Why? Why not.