Japanese Spectators

So far we`ve attended two very different events here in Japan. In both cases, there were several distinct differences from how we do things back home.

The first event we attended was the Aoi festival. It was going to be a procession from the Imperial Palace to two Shinto shrines in order to do a couple of important rituals. As it was called a `festival` we were expecting a somewhat festive atmosphere. We knew that thousands attended the event and went early to avoid the crowds. I was expecting crowds and people standing as close as possible to observe the beautiful costumes and event characters as they went by. I was also expecting music, children, cheering, laughter, etc. Much of what we ended up seeing was the exact opposite. No bands or music of any kind unless you brought your own MP3 player. Except for a brief and quiet round of applause, there was no clapping or cheering. And the crowd willingly left a nice wide pathway between the seats at the front and the standing room at the back so that people could get by. There was very little necessary by way of crowd control at all. There were more information people than police officers. And there were almost no children present at all. Granted it was a school day, but with thousands of people, at least a few must have taken some time off work to attend. About the only normal thing compared to back home was the presence of booths selling food, drinks, souvenirs, etc.

The sumo festival we attended today was a bit more `normal.` People showed up in good numbers to watch todays bouts. There was some more cheering for the sumo wrestlers as they entered the ring for their match. Children were there with their parents calling out the name of their favourite sumo wrestler. Lots of merchandise and food available (much more reasonably priced than GM Place too!) However, there was almost no security present (and almost none necessary). And, all of the people who were dressed in security uniforms were women. That was almost the only official presence of women in the entire tournament - vendors, cleaners, admission staff, and . . . security? It seemed a little odd. They were dressed with official hats and wore skirts and heels. They would hurry over to an aisle if someone stood there to take a picture or if any part of the crowd looked too `excited.` The sumo wrestlers would walk right past the front seats into and out of the arena and despite their obvious status among the Japanese, no one tried to reach for them or yell at them as they passed by. There didn`t even seem to be much animosity between east and west. I was a bit nervous at first since we decided to root for the western wrestlers and Tokyo is in eastern Japan. But we didn`t get any dirty looks at all as we cheered on the western wrestlers.