Kamakura and The Kamakura Matsuri Festival

For the past week, Sunday to Sunday, there has been a cultural festival in Kamakura, a religious area near Yokohama. On the first Sunday, they have special dance performances, and on the last Sunday, they have Taiko drums and horseback archery. Three of us went to Kamakura on the latter Sunday.
After arriving at the Kamakura station, we find a map and have to walk down a main street for about a mile. In the middle of the street was a dirt path with Sakura trees and lanterns lining each side. Here is a picture or two:






There were hundreds of people at the Shinto Shrine, which was gorgeous to say the least. Words would not do it justice, so here are some pictures:







On the path leading up to the shrine, there were various booths selling candies and fruit-on-a-stick. The pineapple looked amazing, so I bought one. The reason I mention this is because the person selling the pineapple played rock-paper-scissors with me right after I bought the fruit. If you win, you get two pieces. If you lose or tie, then you only get one. We tied. Apparently this is a Japanese tradition. Some vending machines even have an electronic rock-paper-scissors game which can give the customer 2x the good.

After walking around the shrine for some time, the Taiko Drum display was about to start. Taiko Drums are the giant wooden drums that are indigenous to Japan. It was a very cultural experience to be able to watch these young men play the Taiko drums. Here are some pictures and a video:






After they played, I walked up to one of the musicians and, in my broken Japanese, I told him that he played great. I then asked for a picture, and low and behold, I got one.



After lunch, we returned to the shrine for the main event: Horseback Archery. In the Feudal Era, one strategy of warfare was for samurai to gallop through battle on horses and kill others with archery. At the festival, there was a competition between 6 archers to shoot at 3 targets while galloping. Each archer wore full ceremonial outfits, and fired longbows, similar to the ones used during the Edo Period. It was really "cool" to see, for lack of a better word. The horses moved very fast and it was extremely crowded, so my pictures are not the best.





The day was not over. After the main event, we left the shrine and headed to see the Daibutsu (Giant buddha). To be honest, it was more of a tourist attraction than anything else, but it is worth seeing, and mentioning that the statue was HUGE.





This day was one of the most interesting and culturally enlightening days I have had yet.