2018年8月17日金曜日 - 
Hugh: Gal Mikoshi – Tenjin Matsuri festival
Gal Mikoshi is part of the Tenjin Matsuri and takes place annually on the 23rd July. It is an occasion when women have
an opportunity to carry slightly smaller, portable shrines. It happens around
the Temmabashi covered mall between Temma and Umeda, Osaka. Anyway, that's a slice of the background so let's talk about what happened this year.
I made my way
down to Temma Station bright and early in order to
get some good shots (as you may know, I mainly like taking photos of people) and it
didn't disappoint.
By the time the festival kicked off, the energy
started to spread and it was addictive. The heat, the clapping, the chants, the
bells. To tell the truth, I didn't really envy the women carrying the
portable shrines but it was great to watch as an observer. We followed the
procession down the mall constantly trying not to get decked by the shrines
and the people carrying them.
There was a really nice crowd there and it was great to have the
chance to speak to people in both English and Japanese. As time went on, the
crowd started to swell and it was soon to reach its climax, so I moved to get a good spot for this.
So, the climax … the sound began with a
whisper and then increased to a load roar and exploded with huge chants.
All in all, it was a
great day and a great festival. If you ever find yourself in Osaka on 23rd
July, check it out.
annually：every year：毎年
a
slice of ：a portion or section of something ：少しだけ
background ： history of something：予備知識
made my way down to ：went to a
location：～に向かった
bright and early ：very early in the
morning ：朝早く
shots ： photos：写真
kick off ：to begin something：始まる
to tell the truth ：to be honest：正直に言うと
decked ： knocked down：轢かれる
swell ： increase ：増加する
climax：to reach an end point ：最高潮
spot：location ：場所
all in all：taking everything into account：なんだかんだで
find yourself in (somewhere) ：happen to be somewhere, unplanned：～にいることになる
check it out ：to investigate; go somewhere：チェックしてみてください