August is a busy time for festivals throughout Japan and the sky is filled with fireworks most weekend evenings. Each festival seems to be dedicated to something - last weekend was 'Obon' where people go back to their homes and dust off the graves of their relatives which culminates a week long holiday and there were a variety of carnivals to celebrate this. The most bizarre festival that I have come across is that belonging to the port town of Hakodate in Hokkaido, where the town's official 'fish' is the squid.
The Hakodate townspeople love the 'ika' so much that every year they shut down the town for a two-night celebration of the 'Ika Odori'. There are many floats and marchers, all dressed accordingly and wiggling and singing along to the famous 'squid dance'.
The lyrics go like this...
Hakodate's speciality, the squid dance
Squid sashimi, fermented squid, squid somen (?!)
One more, as a bonus, barbecued squid
Squid, squid, squid, squid, squid dance!
Lovely!
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