Good afternoon from the Itoigawa Global Geopark!

Yesterday was the Amatsu Shrine Grand Spring Festival, which is better known as the Itoigawa Kenka Matsuri. I wrote about this festival in my last post, so I won’t bore you with the particulars again, I’m just going to share some pictures from yesterday’s festival:

The cherry blossoms were in near full bloom yesterday, providing a beautiful backdrop to the day’s festivities.

Unfortunately, just before the main event, it began to rain quite heavily, but that didn’t dishearten the teams of men carrying their shrines:

And as the shrines came down to bear upon each other, it was easy to forget the cold rain in all the excitement:

A great big thank you is in order for the men of Oshiage and Teramachi districts, their perseverance made this year’s Itoigawa Kenka Matsuri possible!

-Ishikoro