Yet Another Festival

This festival was Kintokimatsuri, a festival to celebrate the Japanese folk law of 'Kintaro' or golden-boy. The legend goes that Kintaro was a child of abnormal strength. There are various routes the story about his life take. Some say he is based on the Samuri, Sakata no Kintoki; some say he was an orphan left in the wild and others say he was the son of a wealthy-man. They all, however, agree on the point he was a active and indefatigable, plump and ruddy, wearing only a bib with the kanji for "gold" (金) on it. He is meant to have been born and also buried in Shoo, where I am living, and is often depicted riding on the back of a black bear he has meant to have fought and tamed in the wilds.

The festival was a mishmash of stalls and vendors, with a stage for dancing, singing and so on. It didn't seem to be as traditional as I had thought. The traditionally dressed dancers in Yukatas actually danced to a modern piece of composition called “Kintokun – Samba”! How samba has reached its was into Japanese folklore, only the composer knows. But sometimes, it does look as though Japan does have problems bring the traditional into the 21^st century, even though I do sometimes preach about how well Japan melds its heritage with the modern World.