At the festival

I love the festival at my grandmother’s hometown. Every time I hear the Japanese drums beat, and the festival music makes me feel so excited. When I was little I went to Sawara’s festival and was overwhelmed by the heated atmosphere. I was attracted to this festival.
My grandmother lives in the countryside in northern Chiba. The name of the town is “Sawara”. Sawara is an old town and you can still see the rows of old houses standing shoulder to shoulder. The town looks like the Edo period. Whenever I go to Sawara I feel like I went back to the past and it makes me think how people have created and maintain Japanese culture. Now people come to Sawara as a sightseeing place and also it is used for television or film for period dramas. What I like about my grandmother’s hometown is not only the way the town looks, but also that the town is made attractive because you can feel the warm hearts of friends and family, especially at the festival.
Sawara’s festival is one of the famous festivals in Japan which has a long history and tradition. It has been continued since the middle of the Edo period, so it’s been almost 200 years. It is just almost the same as 200 years ago; there are 14 floats for each district and they are pulled around though the town. It’s not easy to pull the floats because the floats are really big and Sawara has many narrow streets, so they need skills, knowledge, and, of course team work. But the narrow street is one reason that I like it because you can see the float really close up and it is powerful.
All the people in the town dress up in their Japanese “hanten”, a short coat which looks very nice on them. Even little babies in baby carriages are dressed up. All generations enjoy and take part in the festival, and when I look at them I can see how proud and passionate they are. I think it’s really nice that all the people in the town have a really strong bond. It’s been continued over the generations and people have been part of this festival since they were little kids. The younger generation learns how by looking at the older generation.
When it gets dark the festival comes to the climax. You can hear the dance performance and music throughout the whole town. After the festival I felt something is missing recently in big cities. It’s people’s connection with their families and neighbors and the passion of their traditions and culture. There are many things changing these days, but it is also important to keep traditional culture.