Bake Neko: Brass Band Parade

The brass band parade, led by the Euro Brass Band, was the first of the three parades I viewed. It started at the Kagurazuka Station, went down a short way, and then it doubled back. The festival brochure provided information on the makeup of the parade: leading the parade were costumed characters carrying a banner, followed by royal cats (these are people who paid 5,000 yen to participate, followed by the band, then by the noble cats (1,000 yen fee). A portable cat shrine - a clear spoof of portable shrines carried at religious festivals in Japan - followed the noble cats. Bringing up the rear were the citizen cats, who paid 500 yen to participate.

After I left the parade, I noticed on the pamphlet that there had been a oni kenbai (demon sword dance) at 1pm. My brain was so focused on the parades that I completely overlooked that event!Read more