Fukumezawa District Bon Festival

This traditional Bon (festival of the dead) event is held in Fukumezawa district in Wakami area. On August 16th which is the traditional date of Bon, around 3pm, people with WARATAIMATSU and five color flags held on Bon cabinets gather to the cemetry. At this moment, young men lined up playing a unique rhythm also occurs. 5 Drummers dressed in Yukatas with a sash, 8 whistlers with a hat adorened with flowers with female clothing, and 5 SASARAs. The cemetries in Fukumezawa district is devided in to two area, one on the North side and the other on the South. Towards the middle of the event, the flags and WARATAIMATSU would be gathered and torched on fire. Young men playing the unique rhythm would go around the fire three circles, continuing to the Southern cemetry. Between the travel, the line stops at NEJORE house, also playing and going around three times, followed by a brief break. A similar ceremony is done at the Southern cemetry. At the end, whistlers change the rhythm, intending that the line is heading toward the center of the village. In the old times, houses along the marching road would serve them with lantern and SEKIHAN (red bean rice). While wondering around the village, the line would be intervened with a young group with a ladder. They would fight for clearing the path, causing traffic jams called HASHIDOME. This HASHIDOME appears in three parts of the village representing spirits would not be returned to their homes. Traditionally, the HASHIDOME was actually done on a HASHI (a bridge) with in the village. In the end young men fighting agains each other would end up in the middle of the village finishing up with a Bon dance.

The map shows where the march begins. The march will first head to the southern cemetry and back up to the northern cemetry. Towards the end, the march will come back to the center of the village for a ceremonial "Hashidome".
There are no parkings in the area.