 Image search results - "waraji" |
Sandal store
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Held on the first Fri. and Sat. of Aug., the Fukushima Waraji Matsuri is mainly an evening parade of dancers. During Aug. 7-8, 2009, the 40th Fukushima Waraji Festival was held. I saw it on the second day.
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"Waraji" means straw sandals. In central Fukushima city, Ashio Shrine (足尾神社) at a mountain called Shinobu-yama (信夫山) has Japan's largest waraji at 12 meters long and weighing 2 tons.
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The giant waraji sandal is an offering for healthy legs/feet. On the first day of the festival (which I missed in 2009), they carry this giant waraji to the festival grounds along Route 13. Here it is displayed at the intersection.
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Closeup of the giant waraji.
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Ekimae-dori street leading to Fukushima Station is closed to traffic.
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On Aug. 8, 2009 at 12:30 pm, they held the 1st Waraji Day Dance Contest on Ekimae-dori. (わらじDayダンス選手権)
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For a few hours, numerous dance groups performed in a contest. They even had a hula troupe dance, to my delight as I'm from Hawaii.
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Notice anything unusual about these hula dancers?
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Look at their footwear. They are wearing a pair of waraji straw sandals.
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Many of the dancers wore waraji-related things.
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This girl's homemade happi coat says "Waraji Matsuri."
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A panel of judges were there to judge the dancers.
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Each dance group had to perform two numbers. The first one had to be "Dancing Soda Night" for 3 min. and the second one could be anything for 5 min. or less.
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A trio of belly dancers.
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Belly dancer at Fukushima Waraji Matsuri.
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Belly dancer at Fukushima Waraji Matsuri.
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Belly dancer at Fukushima Waraji Matsuri.
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Announcement of the winners.
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A good-size crowd watched the dance contest.
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Near the intersection of Ekimae-dori and Route 13 was this entertainment stage.
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They also displayed this giant golden waraji.
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Giant golden waraji had ema votive tablets written with people's wishes.
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The giant golden waraji was used to open the waraji races on the second day of the festival.
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On Aug. 8, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, the second day of the festival, they held waraji races along Route 13 (Shinobu-dori).
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Groups of children, women, etc., were to pull this large waraji on wheels on the 300-meter long race course along Route 13. A pair of large waraji were raced down the road. Then raced back by another pair of racers.
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Waraji race at Fukushima Waraji Matsuri Festival. Each race team had to have 10 members. Also see my YouTube video here.
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After the waraji races, they also had taiko float races where people pulled/pushed a taiko float in a race.
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Finally at 7:30 pm, the main event called Dancing Soda Night started along Route 13 and Ekimae-dori.
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Hula dancers
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Apparently, it was their first time to appear in this festival.
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They weren't wearing waraji.
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School girls
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Many of the dance groups were from dance studios or schools.
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Fukushima Waraji Matsuri
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Fukushima Waraji Matsuri
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Eisa group from Okinawa
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At the intersection. Notice the giant waraji straw sandal.
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Some fireworks
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Awards ceremony. The festival ended at about 9:30 pm.
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