Omanto Matsuri [おまんと(駆け馬)祭り]

Omanto matsuri (おまんと祭) takes place right next to my host dad’s family home and is a very important matsuri for his family. During this matsuri, horses are brought into a ring to run around it as young men try to grab onto the horse and run with it. My host mother told me that the longer they hold on, the more luck they have. She also told me that my host dad participated until he broke his arm one year. Despite how dangerous it sounds, it was very interesting to watch. Some of the horses were really big and powerful and it was rather exciting to see them run around the ring.

After a large sushi lunch, we went to watch the mikoshi (神輿) being paraded. Children played music on flutes and took turns hitting taiko (太鼓). After the small parade, we had a dinner of seafood, including shrimp as long as my forearm. Since this matsuri is important to my host dad’s family, I got to meet almost all of my host dad’s immediate family. Since I had not really gone to a matsuri since arriving, it was really fun to go to one with my host family. Can’t wait to go to more matsuri in the future!