In singapore, we do have our own "version" of matsuri know as the pasar malam. I guess you could wiki it, its vry similar but just not as cool. Most of the time people just go there for the food.
Here in São Paulo we have the Tanabata Matsuri (七夕) festival every year. And it's growing every year.
Lol @ the last sentence "Bet you didn't know that Octopus had balls." As like what Alafista OTAKU has said, the ones here are more commonly known as "Pasar Malam". Similar to Tokyo Matsuri but you don't have girls dressed up in Yukatas ORZ. A lot of food is sold there, and also clothes, plants and cheap miniature stuff that you might not use at all. There is also s game similar to Kodomo Damashi (子供だまし) but it's picking up toy fishes using a hook. Great business model ^^; Oh! Not forgetting the "open-source" CD/DVDs (Including Eroge ^^;) that were widely available in the past at the Pasar Malam.
Taco Yaki are actual octopus balls? I alwyas thought they were minced octopus rounded into balls... ^^;
Alafista: LOL i don't think a "pasar malam" (night market) qualifies as a Matsuri. There's no fireworks nor pretty girls in yukatas at a pasar malam. Just smelly fish, chicken blood and spare parts on the floor, vegetables and the typical obaa-san haggling on prices.
Here in Brunei, the matsuri is called gerai malam which is almost similar to wolf-[x]'s pasar malam. but no smelly fish, bloody chicken etc. Just yummy food smells in air. Yum! Only during his majesty's birthday there will be fireworks and 'joget'(some kind of traditional dance) and 'cucul' (bright lights).
I think we still have many festivals in Michigan. Biggest two that come to mind are the Cherry Festival in Traverse City and the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan that is. ^^; It has been so long since I've been to either one. The Tulip Festival is always so colorful. Actually this is always such a beautiful part of Michigan year around. Since the Holland area is an old Dutch settlement one can feel the history during tulip time. Holand, MI. on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland,_Michigan -- Rushes back to all that paperwork...
Jay Cee - Alow! I live in a small city, but I make several trips along the year to bigger cities here in Brazil. I know Tanabata Festival in São Paulo, and also know that in Curitiba (another major brazilian city) has smaller matsuri(s) once every 2 or 3 months, namely Hana Matsuri, Haru Matsuri and so on... Lots of cosplayers, japanese food, karaoke and japanese related stuff. Next year we will have lots of stuff here, because Brazil will be celebrating 100 years of japanese imigration. Brazil has a relatively large number of japanese immigrants.
Reading this post makes me soooo hungry.... And how nice to see a post where you can actually see peoples faces.
We have many festivals around downtown where I live due to the many cultures that have established itself here. That strange festival from the middle of no where when I stayed in Osaka makes sense now, it was a matsuri.
I would love to attend Matsuri festivals. It's in my to-do list before I expire. Everytime this festival is featured in an anime, it makes that episode more special.
Matsuri looks like super fun. Sigh, I wish I can attend it...
Hey Danny, what kind of Camera do you use? I like how you take them, but I don't know which camera to buy to take pictures like those.
There is only like, one matsuri in Toronto. Happens very early in summer. Nothing like the combo of great food, cute girls, and beating drums~ Awesomeo
As far as I can remember there's only Chinese New Year festival here in Sydney.. Lots of good food and lots of money-wasters too ^^; and that's a good place for pickpockets.. My fren almost got herself pickpocketed one time ^^; There're always lion dance and firecrackers around those time.. Fun to watch but can be a great deal of noise pollution to some people.. Matsuri sure is fun ^o^d
I love matsuris ! Just went to one near my studio in Ogikubo on Sunday. :]
@ Aaronime there is? lol i must be an outcast of the city lol~ hikikomori of the city toronto~ (i shall now claim myself that and i prefer anime girl name matsuri more than matsuri ^^
Ive never been to a Matsuri, though ueno park and yoyogi park practically have a matsuri atmosphere all the time. Love those stalls - speshley the steak on a stick! Love that sauce they dip em in - is it mirin? By the way - its Takoyaki, not taco yaki, isnt it? Also, why is that place familiar to MGS players? Ive played through MGS 1, 2 & 3 and it doesnt ring a bell...
i like the place, seems interesting but noisy!
We have some festivals here, but it's not really in such a traditional sense (at least not in my area, for traditional you'd have to go more into the country). Usually it's also one street and surroundings that are closed off, and the shops have their stalls on the street, usually also some games and music. And sometimes even a big stage where several artists come to sing as part of a summer tour of a radio station. But also sometimes street festivals specifically organized by that street alone, so they have a bbq or something, much smaller than the bigger festivals. Although the word festival is also commonly used for big music festivals, of which there are many in the summer here. Rock Werchter, Marktrock & Pukkelpop being one of the most internationally known.
"Bet you didn't know Octopus had balls"...isn't that from "Good Morning Vietnam" (replacing "fish balls" with "octopus balls"...)? nice one though
Ha!!! matsuri in singapore ! i missed it. i heard that there is this in singapore every year but don't have any information on it. and again i missed it this year. May i request you give me information about location, Date or even a web on the event so i can go next year, if you may happen to have it of cose.
the food looks so good... except for the octopus balls ^^;
写真でたくさん外人をみます。。
Bahh I missed the natsu matsuri in my country (the singapore one lol) so envious when I saw moeside's entry on that.. =X
Tacoyaki here are poor imitations. I love the ones that have real octopus in them. heheh! Yummy. Now I'm hungry. LOL
i missed out the japan matsuri in my country on purpose because of the fact that i have near complete zero knowledge on speech itself.. and feel that i will face problem over there..
We have festivals here, but not tied with a sense of culturalism, which I loathe =p If you arn't having family over then usually communities will head to events such as "The Carnival or "The State Fair" or "INSERT LOCAL CITY NAME HERE Fair". Fairs are generally nice as at most of them you can still experience a great American time at these events. Usually they have rides that range from tot rides to the classic "Zipper" rides. In 2000 many carnivals added a ride called "the Gravitron", a spaceship that spun you around and due to the centripetal force it would be EXTREMELY HARD to walk inside, but if you lay up against the back of the wall, you can literally float up on it and I remember kids liked doing "the spiderman". I used to work for an amusement park so I still find my amount of knowledge on the subject disturbing ^^. We enjoy great eats, but they are generic eats made American Style. French Fries, Popcorn, Ice Cream, Soda, Burgers, (everywhere Hotdogs), and sometimes Corndogs. Fairs are fun and are heavily supported by the community as a get-together time. I would love to visit Japan during festivities- in fact I dropped a class in college now (I still have what I need) so I could take time to study Japanese. I look forward to visiting one day and I love to see all the posts regarding Japan.
this is a POST!! god i love Japan, one day i fly to JAp to stay in this wonderful city and run in every street, yajuu!!! cherss danny!!!
I love festivals, y really like the vibe you get from them, and yeah haha, theyre mostly to take a walk and get some food..I really like it when somethings celebrates its culture, or when you can see it, eat it or whatever.. ^^
I love takoyaki! :P
Andy, I was playing the Japanese version - there was a place called Azabujyuban in it. Skanky, You can see the model of the camera and a link to the camera review under most photos. Wolf, LOL at food on floor!
Seeing Matsuri in anime was one of the reasons why I was first interested in Japan (the others being the contrast between the crazy-paced way of life vs. deeply embedded traditional culture but also nature -forests, rivers, the Fuji-Yama, etc.). I have heard that pools with goldfish to scoop (watch Lucky☆Star among others to see what I am talking about) have been prohibited, due to concern for fish (needless to say that fish don't live in plastic bags forever or in aquariums without any source of oxygen). Maybe that is why there are balls in that festival (too easy somehow though... any prizes to grab there?). Octopus balls... Nice one. Hopefully it did have no effect on me.
we have pasar malam-"night markets" and a local summer festival held in the japanses schools here... the food is excellent in both.
Not really fond of Fairs here in the US where fair food is only Deep fried and soaked with grease. I always wanted to go to any of the Matsuri in Japan and try to scoop up goldfish with paper nets.
We have Matsuri too in Penang - the Bon Odori http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/malaysia/penang/penang-festivals-&-events/bon-odori-festival-in-penang.html
