It’s July in Japan, hot as Hades and steamy as a sauna, but it’s also time for two awesome festivals: Tenjin Matsuri and Gujo Odori. Plus melt-in-the-mouth Hida beef & seasonal ayu fish kaiseki dinners await, how can I resist?
Over 1000 years old, Tenjin Matsuri in Osaka is one of the 3 biggest festivals in Japan. The highlight of the 2-day affair is a huge parade with thousands dressed in period costume carrying portable shrines, accompanied by music and dancing, culminating in a spectacular boat procession-cum-fireworks show the evening of July 25.
Another event, Gujo Odori in Gujo Hachiman, is one of the island nation’s most famous traditional dance festivals. For over 30 days in summer, dances take place all around town. The festival reaches a feverish pitch from August 13th to 16th, with dancing all night till wee hours (4-5 am!) in the morning!
On my 11-day trip, I enjoyed the sights & sounds of Osaka, Kyoto, Gifu as well as Gujo Hachiman, and came away with a greater appreciation for the rich culture of the Land of the Rising Sun. Here is the first installment of my adventures in Osaka – enjoy!
Emblematic of the country’s amazing hospitality, Goodwill Guides offer volunteer guide services to visitors across Japan. Unfortunately because of our late afternoon arrival, we missed most of the happenings in the first day of the Tenjin Matsuri.
Many kudos to Akira, our Goodwill Guide, who kindly volunteered to meet us at the airport so we could get to the festival site ASAP. His quick footwork got us to the Osaka Amenity Park in time to see this Takigi Noh performance. This special Noh is performed outdoors in the evening illuminated by bonfires.
As host for the Tenjin Matsuri, the Tenmangu shrine is where rituals are performed and processions start & end.
We got to the temple just as the procession was returning. A column of young men performed the shishimai (lion dance) while hundreds of young ladies danced the kasa odori (umbrella dance), with co-ed bands playing traditional flutes and drums interspersed between them.
Okonomiyaki, also touted as ‘Japanese pizza’, is a mixture of seafood or meat, vegetables and batter cooked on a hot griddle, sometimes by the customer.
When done, the dish is topped with special sauce, mayonnaise, grated seaweed and bonito fish flakes which ‘dance’ eerily from the heat of the griddle.
Since the festival activities for the second day won’t start till late afternoon, Kiyoe, our Goodwill Guide that day, advised us to visit the Osaka Castle and the oddly named Museum of Housing and Living first. They gave different perspectives of Osaka’s past and made a pleasant morning excursion.
Cool looking concession kiosk on the Castle grounds.
With the temperature in the stratosphere, I only felt like having cold noodles. We chanced upon this great noodle shop and had zaru soba with perfectly crisp shrimp, mushroom and pumpkin tempura. For the grand finale, hot stock was added to the dipping sauce after the noodles were finished and presto! we had a flavorful bowl of soup to round out our lunch!
This is the main tourist destination for food and entertainment.
Due to Osaka’s proximity to Kobe, we saw plenty of restaurants offering Kobe beef. Since real Kobe beef is not sold outside Japan, this is foodie heaven for serious carnivores!
These elaborate manhole covers, which double as street art, are from the Dotonbori area.
