We got lucky and stumbled upon a mikoshi parade right when we got out of the station.
There were about 5 medium sized ones.
They passed us and then went up a large flight of steep stairs to the shrine. kinda scary.
We followed the parade up the stairs and found numerous festival food stands.
All the mikoshi assembled out in front of the shrine and they were blessed by the priest. Then they went back down the hill. Laurel and I got caught on the stairs and had to jump to the side.
Looking down the hill.
Looking up the hill.
There were so many stands. One stand had fruit that was covered with a warm sugar syrup and was quickly frozen on a block of ice.
We also had a chance to see an edo-period courtesan procession.
The geta they were wearing were longer than normal ones.
The oiran in the far back ended up almost fainting on her way back and had to stop on the side of the road to throw up. The lady said the kimonos are very heavy and it takes multiple hours to put on...and then they had to walk maybe two miles. so I wasn't surprised.
After the procession, we went back up to the shrine to see the lanterns in the dark.
There were still so many people going up and down.
The line to pray at the shrine was really long...and this was around 9 o'clock at night too.
There was japanese dance performances to entertain those waiting in the line.
The shops were all having specials for the matsuri...one in particular was selling dango for 60 yen each. freshly charred on the grill and then dipped in sauce or wrapped in seaweed.
Laurel and I concluded that this was the best dango we've ever had.
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