This weekend was
the weekend of the Gokoku Jinja Matsuri (Gokoku Shrine Festival).
Gokoku Jinja is one of Asahikawa's two main shrines. In addition
to the festival itself, there was a music parade through downtown.
The music parade was a collection of marching bands of all ages.
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The parade started with the little kids
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Their costumes were excellent
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"Grand Marching Parade of Bands" or "Grand Parade
of Marching Bands?"
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The colors were nice and bright
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These kids play better piano than me
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The older elementary then junior high students followed
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I wonder how much the costumes cost?
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March march march
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Some dancers/twirlers
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Some of the groups pulled it off without complex costumes
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Ryoun always does a good yosakoi show
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Asahikawa Commerical High School had the largest entry
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They performed a concert in front of a department store after the
parade...
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...which was good, because I didn't get to watch them in the parade...
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...since I was being interviewed by a TV crew at the time!
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The Shrine festival was held at the shrine
and at Tokiwa Park. The food stalls encircled the park, giving it
a completely different atmosphere.
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This is the shrine
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One of the lanterns up for the festival
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In front of the shrine
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These two were on the small lake at Tokiwa Park - a wierd mix of
old (the clothing) and new (the hair) Japan
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The festival also had a completely different look in day than in
night
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