Summer festival －Natsu-matsuri in Japanese － is one of the largest events in each community. Some of them are so prominent that attract a flock of visitors and tourists, even from abroad.
But in fact, almost every local community holds their own summer festival.
So just imagine thousands of summer festivals are happening throughout the season, throughout Japan.
Such local-based Natsu-matsuri is a great opportunity for reconnection among the neighbours; people are too busy with each body’s activities － a person who lives in your next door doesn’t mean you can catch often.
But the day of the Natsu-matsuri is different
Residents, young and old all get together to enjoy a joyous day from the morning. Natsu-matsuri is usually initiated by a parade of traditional float called ‘Mikoshi’ which actually is a miniature of Shrine.
In the centre of the venue, a high-rise stage has been assembled upon which drams are set and performed to enliven the music to which people dance.
Food and attraction stalls are open and run by the teams of the neighbours.
During the day time, people sporadically show up and join dancing or look around the stalls.
As the evening approaches and the temperature gets moderated, people start coming out from the air-conditioned houses. The venue, supposedly the largest open space in the area, will be fully occupied with the residents, their friends and relatives by dusk
There, Natsu-matsuri comes to its culmination.
Evening time in a resident area in Japan is usually very quiet, except the day like this.
If you hear the roar of the music and drums coming from somewhere, it must be a Natsu-matsuri happening somewhere near you.
