Look out Mardis Gras, here comes Tatemon!

So my first festival was a blast.　The Tatemon Festival, as it is so lovingly called, took place in Uozu near the Suwa Shrine and is supposed to (as far as I understood it)attract fish to the shore, ensuring a successful harvest for the year. There were a bunch of tatemons to be pulled, lots of people to pull them and fun was had by all. I've made a step by step Tatemon Itinerary for any of you who want to try this at home. Don't forget the fireworks and free t-shirts!

Step 1: First you get a bunch of tatemons, big boat looking things with lanterns, like this one. Line them up by the sea and pile on flute players, a drummer, and some adorable childrens.

Step 2: Get a hardworking team to pull your tatemon down to the shrine. We got to wear outfits called "happis". This is part of our team here.

Step 3: Push/pull that sucker hard and scream while you're doing it.

Step 4: Once it gets in the shrine area, spin it around for a while. We weren't able to participate in the spinning because it's so dangerous. If anyone's interested I have a video of this, it was wild. People on the ropes actually fly in the air.

Step 5: Go inside the shrine, give thanks to the gods, and drink holy sake. Pull the tatemon back out of the shrine area and down the street to where you started. Celebrate! Here's Josh, Dan, myself, crazy dude I don't know and Kei.