I went to the Takegashima Shrine Festival! |「海陽で行ってみた！」竹ヶ島神社祭り編
Hey it’s Tony here!
こんにちは！トニーだよ！
On June 3rd, I went to the Takegashima shrine festival! I think the last time I went to Takegashima was during our Marine Jam experience last year, so I was excited to go back there again!
6月3日に、竹ヶ島神社のお祭りに行ってきたよ！竹ヶ島に最後に行ったのは去年のマリンジャム体験の時だったと思うので、また行くのが楽しみだったんだ！
I got to Takegashima at around 2pm which is when the procession was scheduled to start. Although I saw a couple of people walking from the carpark, I found it oddly quiet despite being a festival.
竹ヶ島に着いたのは行列が始まる予定の午後2時頃だったよ。駐車場から歩いてくる人を何人か見かけたけど、祭りなのに妙に静かだなーと思った。
I don’t know the roads and pathways at Takegashima very well, so I followed the other people who were walking all in the same direction. After a short while I heard the sound of drumming and voices shouting, followed by lines of children and adults carrying a portable shrine emerging from a narrow street. Seeing the kids wearing happi coats and headbands while shouting at the top of their lungs was very cute!
まだ竹ヶ島の道や通路をよくわからないので、とりあえず同じ方向に向かって歩いている他の人たちについていった。しばらくすると、太鼓の音と掛け声が聞こえはじめ、小さな神輿を担いだ子どもや大人の列が細い道から出てきたよ。法被にはちまきをした子どもたちが大声を張り上げている姿は、とても可愛かったよ！
After carrying the portable shrine around the streets, the kids took part in a rice cake throwing event where they stood on the back of a truck and threw all sorts of other snacks in addition to rice cakes. Some kids were definitely having too much fun vigorously throwing the rice cakes!
神輿を担いだ後、餅投げが行われた。子どもたちはトラックの荷台に立ち、餅のほかにもいろいろなお菓子を投げていたよ。顔面に当たったら痛そうな勢いで餅を投げていた子どももいたけど、楽しそうで何よりだね（笑）。
After the rice cake throwing, I went home for the afternoon and when I came back at 6:30, I saw many people there at the festival. There were many stalls there, offering all sorts of delicious food and games. The Global team was there too, and it was interesting to see many people that I have seen before from around town, all in the same place!
餅投げを見た後に一度家に帰って、夕方6時半にまた戻ると、たくさんの人が祭りに来ていたよ。屋台がいくつか出ていて、おいしい食べ物やゲームがいろいろあったよ。グローバルチームも来ていて、町中で見かけたことのある人たちが同じ場所に集まっているのが新鮮で面白かった！
There were also fireworks show just off the shore at around 7:30pm. Seeing fireworks this up close was really cool and you could feel the impact of the fireworks exploding. By 8:30pm, the bustling festival had settled down and some people had begun to go home.
夕方7時半ごろには花火も上がったよ。間近で見る花火は本当に素晴らしく、ドーンという衝撃が体に伝わってきたよ。8時半になると、祭りの賑わいも落ち着き、帰り始める人も出てきた。
I heard that the Takegashima Shrine festival marks the start of the festival season, as it is the earliest one in the year to be held in Tokushima prefecture. For me, this was my first unrestricted festival in Kaiyo since getting here and I’m looking forward to going to more of them!
このお祭りは、徳島県内では1年で最も早く開催される祭りなので、お祭りシーズンの始まりを告げるものだと聞いたけど、自分にとっては海陽町に来てから初めての無制限のお祭りだったので、これからもいろいろなお祭りに行きたいと思っているよ！