あけおめ！

Howdy all you lovely South-West residents.

I'm busy compiling a list of events happening in the South-West for the month of Feb and March (for the next polestar) and I'd love to hear if your town has something, anything going on. The weirder/wackier the better.

For example, my town, Yakumo-cho, has a festival called さむいべや which among other things has a giant ice slide and the usual ice/snow sculptures.

So, let me know, and I'll include it in the next issue of polestar so that the rest of the inhabitants on this island can also at the very least know of its existence.

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Be creative, invent a perversion

I wish I could remember exactly when this was (def. February) and what it was called, but Noboribetsu has a fertility festival which is very odd, but a lot of fun.

Local college students/young people all don fundoshi (and are otherwise naked, aside from the girls who have a belt of fabric to cover the top) and run barefoot, in the snow and ice, down a hill and into a ring where tubs of piping hot onsen water await them. Each team has a pole with something at the top that they have to try to knock off, so they proceede to have a water fight using the onsen water. The loosing team has to parade around the ring carrying a giant wooden phallus (I kid you not) while the other team looks on.

Pre-show entertainment includes the usual taiko, and dancing - and then there's a dance involving a masked couple - the man has a wooden phallus tied around his waist (think like 10 times normal size) and as he dances around the woman they reinact... well, you can guess. It all culminates in the woman happily holding her new baby. (Oh, and children watched this BTW - it was a bit shocking from an American's perspective!)

Anyway, this is one of the quirkier festivals I've seen in Japan, so if you want a very different experience, I recommend it. I'll look around and try to find some specifics about it.

Edit* Gotta love Noboribetsu's English tourism page. Under festivals, see "Noboribetsu Hotspring Festival." It happens on February 3rd and 4th, just in time for Setsubun. Here you go: http://www.noboribetsu-spa.jp/nobo/e/spot-info.aspx

Oh wow, that's.. intense! Thanks Vicki.

So many events that I'm not going to have much time for snowboarding!

The Showa-Shinzan snowball fight looks like it would be fun too. Just need a team of 9 fearless crack shots.

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Be creative, invent a perversion

I asked around my office and there isn't anything cracking in Assabu, but there is a "Tabakaze" festival in Esashi sometime in the winter months. The kyoikucho is looking up information on it, so I will get it to you when I find out. It involves 2 days of "nabe matsuri" where apparently you sit around and eat all kinds of amazing nabe. :D

Sounds like a mellow, but fun time!

Ok. Here's the lowdown on the Esashi festival:

It looks like the whole month is considered to be their Tabakaze festival. I haven't been able to ascertain what is so special about it except that it is because they get strong winds from the West in February...

BUT - there is a Nabe Matsuri on February 20th and 21st. Over 30 kinds of nabe will be available to eat. The article shows a picture of the Nabe Matsuri poster. I'm assuming that any place that serves nabe for this festival will have one of these posters up outside. "Nabe Matsuri" is written in big hiragana "なべまつり" on the poster, so easy to identify.

I love the Japanese and their dedication to food....

We're kinda boring out here in Kaminokuni. The only thing we have coming up until March is a "food festival" on January 23rd and 24th from 10am to 2pm each day. So that doesn't even qualify for Feb/March. My supervisor wasn't living here last January, so all he knows is that it's a some sort of food sharing event. Esashi isn't very far from here, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was like the Nabe festival.

Hi!

PEKOiSM, do you still have the list you made? I'd very much like to see it as I love Matsuri.

And if you have any that are outside of that time period as well :D

Thanks, I feel like I'm gonna have fun this year!

If you join HAJET you can get the Polestar, HAJET's magazine which will have loads of information on upcoming festivals and events.

Keshu - I'm the current Southwest HAJET Rep, so I can attest to the above. I spend a good 4 or 5 hours every month hunting down events happening in the Southwest for the Polestar. (Which, btw, is in electronic format, delivered right to your email address!) July and August are absolutely saturated with all kinds of festivals and events. Also, I'll post here in July about the Southwest Welcome Party (Sep 18 & 19th), so please check back often. :D

From what I heard, we'll be able to join Hajet at the Tokyo orientation Gonna have to wait till then..too bad I'll miss the July edition of the Polestar...or can we ask to have previous editions too?

There is an archive (though, I never got round to uploading the older issues..) kept here on the forums, that you'll have access to as a HAJET member.

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Be creative, invent a perversion

Old editions are available for download from the forums, this is in the polestar section right here on the forums, but i think it is member only and might not show up till you join. One of the older editions is available at the parent site at http://www.hajet.org/polestar/ or if you are really interested hit me with a PM with your email address and I can forward the latest one on. Not sure when July will be out as a couple of hardware issues have thrown a spanner in the works, but it is getting sorted. Once you're here we would love your contributions too.

They get you to join AJET at Tokyo Orientation, but most wait till Sapporo Orientation to join HAJET. We have a great bunch of welcome parties in store for you all.
Cheers
Simon