Whilst in Takayama we popped our little botties onto a train and headed for neighbouring Furukawa to catch a big event on the local calendar, the somewhat mystifying 'Hakada Matsuri' or 'Naked Festival'. Well with a name like that it would've been stoopid to have not gone wouldn't it. The streets are decked with bunting and paper lanterns are hung from the lampposts. All along the length of the high street stalls appear selling toys that light up and whistle, others offering children the chance to win a fish if they can pick up a plastic duck out of a bucket of water with a mini fishing rod and a few selling masks and badges. Intermingled with these are a vast array of stalls selling all manner of tasty treats from candy-floss and chocolate coated bananas, through okonomiyake to fried chicken tendons. (I think I inadvertently bought some of these.) It's much like a fairground or festival in any other town really.
The highlight of the festival is the Okoshi Daiko, when boistrous young men parade around town at night in loincloths, (or more realistically - big nappies), drinking sake and banging drums attached to what resembles a huge cotton bud then climbing to the top of said cotton bud and balancing by their stomach whilst clapping and yelling. It was hilarious!
After this madness has died down a bit a load of nappy-clad chaps hoist themselves onto a kind of raft bearing one huge drum whereby they tie two of their number onto the drum and they then proceed to ride around town banging the drum, surfing almost, on a sea of people. It's all very strange. But bloody good fun to watch.
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