なかもず校より中百舌鳥地元のお話です♪今年の夏に日本に来たばかりのnew teacher, Adamが堺市百舌鳥八幡のふとん太鼓を見に行ってきました。初めて見る日本のお祭りを楽しんだようです☆外国人が見た日本のお祭りはどんな感じでしょう？！
Recently, I attended the Festival at Mozuhachiman Shrine. This was the first festival I had been to since arriving in Japan in late July. As this was the first Japanese festival I had ever been to, I didn’t quite know what to expect. The festival site was only about a 20-30 minute walk from Nakamozu Station. Upon arriving at the shrine at about 8:30pm, I found that there were large crowds of people already there. The streets and walkways were flooded with people, all there to enjoy the festival. There were street stands set up all along the streets selling food, souvenirs, and offering games to play for prizes. I even found a stand selling ramen burgers which were very hard to eat! I eventually made my way to the central area of the festival were they were keeping all the futondaiko. There were very large display areas where they would put the futondaiko when they weren’t using them and they were all decorated very beautifully.
When I arrived, Nakamozu was currently displaying their futondaiko. It was very large and I was surprised at how many people were lifting it up in the air. I had never seen anything like it before in my life. I was told that futondaiko can weigh tonnes. As it moved down the street the sound of drums filled the night sky and the people on top threw confetti into the crowds of people watching. There were also people below to help guide the futondaiko through the streets safely. The crowd was very excited as the futondaiko moved down the street bouncing along to the sound of drums. The environment was very contagious and I found it hard not to get swept up in the excitement with everyone else.
Over all it was a very entertaining experience and I’d like to learn more about these types of Japanese festivals. I’m looking forward to attending more Japanese festivals in the future.
Vocabulary
Confetti (n) – Small colourful pieces of paper that are thrown into the air at festive events.
Flood (v) – to overwhelm with something. For example, people.
Ramen burger (n) – a hamburger like food that is made from the typical ingredients found in ramen
Prizes (n) – A reward for winning a game or contest. Unlike gifts, prizes must be won.
Tonne – A unit of measure equal to 1,000kg. Not to be confused with Ton in other measuring systems.
Expressions
The sound of drums filled the night sky – It is not uncommon in English to say that the sky is filled by sound.
The environment was very contagious – Usually ‘contagious’ is used for a sicknesses that can be spread to others, but like sicknesses, emotions, ideas, and feelings can be said to spread in a similar manner.
Get swept up in – To be forced into a certain situation or condition.
Grammar
Past Perfect
Use the past perfect to describe events that were completed in the past.
I had never seen anything like it before in my life.
