Golden Week V - Hakata Dontaku Festival

Day 2 in Fukuoka was set aside for the annual Hakata Dontaku festival. I don't really know what it's all about, but it's one of the biggest festivals in Japan. They set up stages all around town, and it seems like every cultural club, dance school, and music teacher in town puts on a recital. I was told that the parade starts at 10, so I headed down to the parade route early in the morning to claim a spot. Once I found the place, though, they told me that the parade isn't until 1, so I had some time to wander around. After watching a shamisen recital (basically a traditional Japanese 3-stringed banjo), I left that stage and met these guys:

They were really friendly. It reminded me of grabbing someone in a dog suit for a picture in the muni lot. Turns out these guys were headed to the stage I just left, so I went back to see them do their thing.


Of all the shows I saw that day, they looked like they were having the most fun. Plus, those are some crazy pants.

After they finished and I watched a traditional dance, a hip hop dance, and a hula dance recital, it was finally time for the parade. I think everyone who was ever on stage was in the parade and then some. There were a lot of bands, a lot of drums, Mickey Mouse, and a ton of floats that seemed to always have something to do with the Softbank Hawks. The actual players had a game, so they sent these guys instead.
For some reason, there were also samba dancers. I'm not complaining, just pointing it out.
I really underestimated the parade, and went out without sunscreen, thinking it wouldn't take long, and I'd find a seat in the shade. If you're ever at the Dontaku festival, wear sunscreen. I toughed it out standing on a bridge in the sun for about 2 hours before I decided to head to the hotel and nurse my burn a little. But I got distracted on the way back. Who would have thought these guys would be there, although the one on the left looks a little short to be a storm trooper.
Once I pulled myself away from them, I was almost back to the subway when I had to stop in my tracks. It seemed even less likely than Darth Vader, but there it was, a Japanese drag show. My Japanese slang is really weak, but some words, like trans-something, or lesbo-something, came across loud and clear.
After a quick nap, I headed back to the festival to see what it turns into when the sun goes down. Seemed to be most of the same, except for dozens of little food shops that had spontaneously popped up while I was gone for an hour. These aren't the US style hot dog carts. These are full-on temporary restaurants, with temporary walls, chairs, curtains, and even TV's. Fukuoka is famous for these yatai, so I made it a point to eat at one. The owner and his wife's Japanese was such a regional dialect that I couldn't understand a word of it. Luckily, a guy came in and sat next to me (with his wife and 2 dogs). He translated, if not to English, at least to Japanese I could sort of understand.

After the yatai, I walked over to the tourist-brochure-recomended international bar, "The International Bar". It really lived up to the name, with bartenders from Japan, Germany, Albania, and Nepal. Nice people, all of them, but otherwise it was pretty dead. I got them to recommend another place, and went there. Guess which sign is the place I went to.
I stuck around for a little while, and actually ran into people I know from Utsunomiya there, but I had tickets for a 1:30 game in Hiroshima the next day, so I had to call it a night around 1:00 to make it there in time. It's too bad, Fukuoka is a fun town, but I didn't have enough time to really see it all. Hopefully I can get back someday.