yosakoi, yoshino and more

shikoku. land of mystery, intrigue, awe-inspiring scenery... and people who like to party.

almost naively i signed up to dance in kochi's yosakoi festival. on the phone the women told me cryptic directions that were almost like clues to finding some hidden treasure: "okay, at 3pm sharp, you're going to go to the otemai elementary school. find the team and tell them you want to dance. bring naruko." i didn't have any idea what naruko were let alone on what kind of massive scale the yosakoi festival takes place.

the streets fill with teams of colorfully dressed dancers, who dance coordinated rouitines to loud blaring music beating out of the backs of decorated buses. naruko are the little wooden clackers that the teams use in their routines and in general there is a lot of drinking and delicious street food in the thick, humid, summer heat.

my team was organized by kochi city, and bascially anyone can join. while others spend months rehearsing, we spent about a half hour learning a short and really easy routine that basically involves just clacking around the naruko, kicking and jumping around... to our bus band music... strangely, uh, james brown's "sex machine". i met a girl from osaka, kanako, who had biked down all the way from osaka to kochi (about 100 km a day). she was also wandering around solo in the festival, so we danced it up together and wandered around the crowded streets looking for okonomiyaki.

if you're interested, here's more on yosakoi.

i met so many cool folks along the way that in true mixtape form, here are shot outs to the people who made the trip worthwhile:

shaun in kochi: an aussie who spends his days making okonimiyaki, soba and the like at his job in the vibrant hirome market, and eats natto like three times a day. hm, he looks like an aussie, but... we took an impromptu trip to katsurahama (kochi beach) and ate grilled ika (squid) on scewers by the sea.

etsuko in awa ikeda: a korean japanese woman who cracked me up with her stories of living in mexico and leading tours of cancun for japanese tourists. she's got an awesome vision for alternative education. check it out (you may have to translate the page).

danny, doron and oran: three very cool israeli guys who allowed me to ride around with them in their rental car to explore the vine bridges of the iya valley. good conversation, absolutely gorgeous scenery and yummy soba. watch out for the ca-bo.

dave, teru, michael, jesse and the rest of the rafting crew of happy raft in the iya valley: not only do these guys run an awesome and professional rafting excursion down the yoshino river, but they also know how to have a good time. just watch out for markers when the sake gets passed around.

naoya, keitaro, tahashi and keiichi: my rafting buddies, these guys are japanese cops in one of the most tranquil areas of japan. we had a delicious bbq deep in the west iya valley alongside a river and mountains seeping in mist. special thanks to naoya for sending my lost swimsuit halfway across the country to get it back to me.

mariko: my second wwoof host, close to awa ikeda in the iya valley. a documentary filmmaker herself, she's working on a piece featuring sato hatsume, a benevolent elder woman who invites anyone going through hard times into her home, and cooks them onigiri from the heart. mariko's home is a refuge as well, with some killer weeds that i attacked, and after a long day's work we shared evening dinners of sushi, beer and good conversation.

dave: had a fun night out in matsuyama with this internationally travelled aussie who, if it came down to it, could curse you out in chinese. yum ume sours.

i have too many pictures. i'll post a smaller collection of them in a bit.