The Backpacking Ballerina

There are many festivals around Tokyo every May, and I could`t decide which one to go to but my obaachan (grandmother) was talking about how fun this festival was so I decided to go here with a meet up group. Sanja Matsuri literally “Three Shrine Festival”, it is held every third weekend of May in Asakusa. The festival is held in honor of Hinokuma Hamanari, Hinokuma Takenari and Hajino Nakatomo, the three men who established and founded the Senso-ji temple.

We got here at 9:30 am for the start of the festival was 10am and we went around asking where we could see the Yakuza. It is rare to see the Yakuza to show all of their tattoos to the public and we even got a notice before going here that we might not see their tattoos due to the strict rules. As we turned the corner we saw this group of people almost naked and covered in tattoos. I was so surprised, when we asked for a picture they even requested that we take their back side as i am assuming it is something they are very proud of.

The rest of the festival we spent going around the Senso-ji temple and eating all of the different Japanese food and delicacies. I wanted to try everything since they all looked so good, but I didn`t want to risk gaining another 2 pounds so I decided to just eat the butter potato and the ice tempura. My gosh, all the food here sounded so interesting, I would recommend that you share it with a friend if it is too much. Your experience will not be complete if you do not have a taste of the food they are selling in the stalls!

Japanese festivals are always something that I look forward in going to and I learned so much from my Japanese friends about the Mikoshi they were carrying around and about the festival too. There is so much to learn about the Japanese culture and the best way to experience it is through festivals. My obaachan told me that this is probably one of the best festivals in Tokyo. If you decide to come here on May you should leave your third weekend free to come here. The matsuri starts on Friday-Sunday, and each day has different events. I wanted to come on the second day because it is only on the second day when you can see the Yakuza and the many kids carrying the Mikoshi. The third day they say is also a good day too.