It’s come around again, time to go and take in the sights and sounds of the annual Azabu Juban festival. When we arrived last year this was my first exposure to Tokyo festivals and I remember it as if it was yesterday. It would appear that nothing about the festival has changed. The thing I remembered the most was the size of the crowd and they came back this year. Once you managed to fight your way onto the actual street where the main festival was taking place you couldn’t move anywhere else.
It is coming towards the end of summer time and the end of festival season. Following last year I tried to find out the reason why this festival was held. Most festivals in Japan started as a means of ensuring something, better harvest, better weather, etc. This festival seems only to be an excuse to drink, eat and be merry (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
From watching the crowd there seemed to be two main drinks of choice. Something like a whiskey based squishy and beer.
There were a couple of standout dishes like the squid balls made to order and the stand proudly displaying the ingredients.
Or the guy selling his barbequed fish on a stick (again with the stick). Thirty five degrees and standing over a raging fire cooking fish – now that dedication to his work. To top it all off he was yelling at the top of his lungs to attract customers.
And for desert? Well a chocolate covered banana would be just what you needed, on a stick of course.
Being a festival there were the usual associated issues like the queue for the toilet that stretched back hundreds of metres or maybe the drunk mascot. In this case a Panda - that was my favourite.
It is coming towards the end of summer time and the end of festival season. Following last year I tried to find out the reason why this festival was held. Most festivals in Japan started as a means of ensuring something, better harvest, better weather, etc. This festival seems only to be an excuse to drink, eat and be merry (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
From watching the crowd there seemed to be two main drinks of choice. Something like a whiskey based squishy and beer.
The food stalls carried a wide range of different food from pancakes, crepes on a stick, barbequed meat and sausages on a stick, candy apples (on a stick) just to name a few. In fact most of the food available had the end of a stick poking out of it.
There were a couple of standout dishes like the squid balls made to order and the stand proudly displaying the ingredients.
Or the guy selling his barbequed fish on a stick (again with the stick). Thirty five degrees and standing over a raging fire cooking fish – now that dedication to his work. To top it all off he was yelling at the top of his lungs to attract customers.
And for desert? Well a chocolate covered banana would be just what you needed, on a stick of course.
Being a festival there were the usual associated issues like the queue for the toilet that stretched back hundreds of metres or maybe the drunk mascot. In this case a Panda - that was my favourite.
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