Inuyama Parade

I went to Inuyama last weekend. It is about an hour from my apartment by subway and then train. This is a a suburb of Nagoya. Inuyama was having a celebration and parade on Saturday . This first picture is old main street in town. It was closed to cars on this day and people filled the street. Rounding the corner the floats were being readied for the parade (more about the parade later).

Continuing on, there is a Shinto shrine at the end of the street. The pieces are of paper represent prayers for ancestors.

This is a very old tree that is being protected. Near by is the castle. This belonged to a very famous Japanese Samurai.

Samurai Armor

The foundation is original but the structure has been rebuilt and restored.
The views from the top of the castle were very beautiful.

As always there is food on sticks for the crowds. These are bananas.














Fried chicken on a stick.

More food on a stick.

I am not sure what everything was but it sure looked good.

I think I should go into the stick selling business here in Japan.

Now, about the parade. There were 10 floats. Each float is represented by a different town.

They are made of wood and are quite ornate. They looked very solid and heavy.

The floats were all man powered. A crew like this was responsible for each float. They decorated them and then they pushed them down the street.

Their costumes were very traditional. Check out the sandals they wore on their feet.
It's show time! Every float had hundreds of Japanese lanterns hung on them, Every one of these had a lighted candle. The sight was amazing!

Once each float passed, people fell in behind them and followed.

They simply manhandled these structures down the street.

Today there is another street festival in Nagoya and I plan to go enjoy yet another day of fun and fresh air.