Mon. Oct. 6 – Let me see the Chochin Matsuri in Nihonmatsu

I was still pretty tuckered out from the weekend, but I still wanted to see the huge lantern festival held in Nihonmatsu. I made plans to meet everyone after school in Nihonmatsu, but I was a tad late.

I falsely believed I could take the “easy” way back home. Route 4 is the main arterial road here. So, I jumped in my car and hopped onto Route 4. I made a right turn one stop too early, and quickly realized that I was getting onto the Tohoku Expressway. That was such a bad idea! First, my little kei-car doesn’t seem to like reaching high speeds. And second, I was really hoping that there was a nearby exit. Otherwise, I might end up in Sendai, a city located in another ken. Bad news bears!

Oh, I failed to mention that it was also only my first day working at my new elementary school. So, that’s why I didn’t have my bearings!

Anyways, I was able to gas up at a rest stop on the Tohoku Expressway. And when I exited at Nihonmatsu, I played the “Gomen nasai, nihongo ga wakarimasen” card. They still let me pay, but at least the toll wasn’t an exorbitant amount. And the kindly toll booth man sent me in the right direction. Phew!

I finally made it to the Chochin Matsuri. It is the 3rd largest lantern festival in all of Japan! (Everything in Fukushima is all about being placed third. We’re never number one!)

These lantern floats were huge! They were several feet high, with each lantern lit up with a candle. Some dudes were perched on the tops of these structures, and pumped the crowd up with energetic cheers. Young people dressed in traditional attire followed each lantern float, and yelled out: “Washoy! Washoy!” (I have no idea what that means). And of course, there was amazing festival food. Takoyaki, yakisoba, those cute fish-shaped pancakes filled with delicious red bean paste… oh, my!

At times, the lanterns caught on fire. So, the dudes would scramble to extinguish it quickly, or else their whole structure would be over. Good times!