For the second year in a row, I went to the Kishiwada Danjiri Festival in Osaka. Last year, it was pretty darn hot outside, I was sick with a fever, and I almost collapsed. This year it was cool out and rain had started in advance of a Typhoon that is passing through. I’ve got to say, last year’s experience takes the prize on this one.

This year, I went with Issei and Joe Caldwell, who just came from Tokyo to visit the Kansai region before heading back to Canada after a long stay in Japan. Despite some crummy weather, it was great catching up with these guys and hanging out, watching the festival.

Though the crowds were a little bit thinner due to the weather, it still felt packed due to all of the umbrellas taking up so much space, making it a bit harder to walk around. There were still a ton of food and drink vendors lining the streets, offering all varieties of fried chicken and fish, takoyaki, soba, beer, candy apples, anything you can think of. My diet thanks me for the poor weather, because I probably would have pigged out if it weren’t for the fact that the 100% saturation level of everything I was wearing was overriding my appetite.

The people who were part of the festival were just as enthusiastic as they were last year, and still running around and jumping (!) around on their danjiri, despite the fact that it was pouring rain. For a festival that has a non-zero annual fatality rate, you think they might slow down, but watching them go seemed just as crazy as before.

We didn’t stick around for the evening. My hands were pruney and I had to get indoors! Here’s a quick video of some of the action: