Hello everyone !
Yesterday there wasn't just one Festival held in Aso city, but two of them. One of my colleague went to a place called Hayataka Tenmangu, a shrine situated not so far from Ubu shrine. But before writing about this festival I'd like to point out something important first.
These two Festivals were the first ones for this area since the Kumamoto earthquake in April. There was even some discussion about the possibility of holding such events after the fact that Aso was damaged that much, especially in the case of the Hayataka Tenmangu. But these festivals are also a part of the recovery process and you can tell just by seeing everyone's face that this is something important for each participant. There is another thing I didn't mentioned yesterday about the water spring lake at Ubu shrine. In fact spring water wasn't reaching the lake anymore for a long time and the water for the lake came from a different place. But after the earthquake hit the area, spring water started to gush out again. It was a very good news for all the farmer around who were like everyone else without running water.
As I said Hayataka Tenmangu was heavily damaged during the earthquake. The main shrine looks like it will fall at any time, the Torii is now on the ground and a part of the stone walls collapsed. Difficult to imagine that it is possible to hold a festival in these conditions. At least that what was thinking many and they were pleasantly surprised. At this time of the year this place is really beautiful and you can enjoy the autumn colors. As you can see on the picture above, to see these children in traditional clothes for festivals in this kind of scenery is very picturesque. There was also a concert at the local community center nearby with our main chairman playing guitar! (he is in the center of the picture below).
These little festivals are open to everyone, so if you're in the area and want to know if there is one during your stay here, just ask us at Michi no Eki Aso or leave a comment on this blog or on our English Facebook page. See you soon in Aso!
Franck
https://www.facebook.com/eng.michinoekiaso/ (in English)
https://twitter.com/MichiNoEkiAso (in English)
