Ishioka Matsuri

On the 17th, I went with H & M to a matsuri in Ishioka. We met up in Mito and had lunch at a sushi bar. With a steady stream of plates coming by on the conveyor belt. You take what you want (you can order items as well) and at the end they count up the number of plates and charge you accordingly. On a per piece basis, it's about half the price of sushi in Vancouver.

The matsuri was pretty cool - crowds of people, lots of greasy food, sno cones and giant traffic cones!!!

It reminded me of the fairs at home, but instead of the rides, the entertainment is provided by a dozen or so portable shrines with dancers and musicians. Most of the mikoshi I've seen (in pictures) are actually carried. These were on wheels and were pulled by people, with musicians and dancers on the top level. So maybe they're not technically mikoshi. But they were cool.



Ishioka Matsuri from matthew on Vimeo.