Uneme Matsuri


The Uneme festival is a big deal in Koriyama, probably the biggest festival held in the city centre each year. During the Summer the Japanese go crazy all over the country with all types of festivals big and small. A group of foreigners were asked to participate this year as part of the Koriyama International Exchange Association, and I was lucky enough to be one of them, as well as Noah, Tim, Joanne and Donna. We got kitted up in Japanese costume, Yukata(costume), Obi(belt), and getta(traditional sandals), and then danced for 1 and 1/2 hours, up and down the streets. We performed a simple Japanese dance so it wasnt too difficult and at the end we were quite adept at the moves. I ended up winning an individual award for our group, some sake, and our group won a prize of $700!!, so we will all receive a comemoratorive festival t-shirt.
It was a great night as you can see by the photos!