This the first time in 4 years that I was able to attend the Kuroishi Festival. For those who are unfamiliar, Kuroishi literally means "black stone". Kuroishi is what I would call a medium sized town for Aomori prefecture with 38,733 people and sits beneath the Hakkoda mountain and borders Hirosaki City.
From Tohoku Town, it took a little over 2 hours by car if the desired route is to pass through the mountains which I found extremely invigorating. The F1 like hairpins caused my tires to whine like dying dogs and the roller coaster terrain could rumble the strongest stomachs. On a few occasions, the steep incline even caused me to down shift to 1st as the engine repeatedly cried out, "ping". I kept imagining to myself, "If only I had a faster car with rock hard suspension, this would be so much fun!" It's not everyday that you get to drive in these elements. It felt like I had been shaken in a bottle.
Upon descending from the mountain top, everything up till this point felt like a struggle and finally as I tipped the scale, in came the rewards. I eased my grip, relaxed, descended, and looked at the world around me. It always amazes me how green Aomori gets. I recall my first impression arriving in Aomori as being so damn green! Everything felt like it has added doses of life to it. The trees blew in the wind with extra swagger. The wild brush even bush'ier. The flowers more vibrant in color. I never have felt the world so alive. It was beautiful.
I was meeting up with a friend whom I met snowboarding that lived in Kuroishi. He said he hasn't been to the festival in a while and wouldn't mind going with me. Kenichi and I have always gotten along since day 1 and it was nice to see him in his home environment for a change. He took us where all the floats were gathering and as we approached closer, the drums could easily be heard. Arriving at our destination, the crowd was also gathering. The countless footsteps launched a small dust cloud to fill the area as we proceeded to cut across the showroom floor full of colorful floats. The excitement was there. You could feel everyone's anticipation for the show to begin. I observed the scenery and noticed the different array of Japanese festival art. Kuroishi had a uniqueness to it because of its' size. Smaller in scale, one would automatically assume it was far below the level of Aomori's Nebuta. However, the size created an intimacy that was in some ways more appealing. I was literally right there next to the paraders and dancers that passed along with each float. The lights lit the faces of babies and young ones observing from the sidewalk that reflected a magical glow. It was in its' very own way, beautiful.
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