Sakura Matsuri
Yes, this was a LONG time ago now, but I’ll write a little about it now. Honestly, I have a hard time blogging about events I go to (for me it’s always a “you had to be there” experience that’s hard to quantify with words), but they’re always worth at least a few words. This one’s worth many, but I’ll try to be succinct.
It was a pretty hot day in the midst of a surprisingly mild Nashville spring. I wore the Jotaro Kujo-inspired “Q-taro” outfit I had debuted at MTAC a week earlier, which quickly grew uncomfortable under a cloudless sky. (I appreciated this sky nonetheless — a few of my past festivals had been cold and/or rainy, which is not really Cherry Blossom Festival weather.) The MTAC booth had Super Smash Bros for Wii U set up, which I thought was nice, and I got to play with some extremely excitable kids. Across from them, not long after I had even arrived, I heard an intro theme from the anime I had gotten into this past year (guess which?) being played on tuba.
I love people-watching, especially here, where you’ve got people in cosplay, beautiful kimono, happi coats, and the like. It was a great day for families and friends.
I got to try a new kind of ramen. I can’t remember what kind — “Tokyo style dipping ramen”? I drank a lot of it at once and it burned my throat. It was good; I’m just a weakling when it comes to anything spicy (but I’m powering up!).
I met cool new people this time, local artists much like me. Although I’m leveling up my ability to initiate, I do love talking to new people when the opportunity arises.
The cosplay contest and the performances are usually very nice, though with MTAC preceding the festival this year I was already a bit burned out on similar things. I guess most of my time was spent talking with friends (and looking at cute dogs).
My favorite part of the festival every year is, hands down, Kaminari Taiko’s performance.
I Love Taiko
Boom! The roar of the drum!
From the first time I went to the festival several years ago, I was hooked. I couldn’t miss the taiko performance. Not that I could — you could probably hear them for miles.
Thunder drums!
For the first time, I saw several attendees dancing in front. Taiko moves people! (Though it was entirely too hot for me. And it wasn’t the kind of music suited to that kind of dance…)
Hoy!
My only regret is that my voice is generally too weak to shout out and be heard among the roar of drums. I would make an awful dragonborn. But the spirit is there.
Evolution
Over the years, going to the same local events each year (Cherry Blossom, MTAC, Celebrate Nashville), I notice that a lot of things are the same, but also changes within myself.
I recognize the changing cultural landscape of Nashville. I love it — I want to see Nashville itself change more to accommodate it. Its infrastructure, its media portrayal. Nashville is a lot more than people think.
I see that I’ve become stronger, in recognizing things in the world, and bringing to reality the pathways in my mind, but also in a literal physical sense.
The first time I experienced Kaminari Taiko, for example: it knocked the wind out of me. I could feel those drums in my chest, strong and fierce. In those days, taking deep breaths was a physical effort, something I would often forget how to do.
Then came yoga.
I could (and will) do a whole post (or several) on that topic alone. For this post, suffice it to say, it changed me, little by little. Suddenly, a year and a half in, months of “donkey work” having changed my physiology and my mind, I was sitting in front of taiko, not even 50 feet away, and I thought,
“Has this gotten less intense?”
I couldn’t feel it, not in that visceral, almost violent way it used to be. Had I gotten “used” to it? Was it less exciting now?
No, it was certainly still the same uproarious taiko performance, with all the fevered showmanship one would expect. What, then? Of course: I had learned to breathe more deeply from the basic movements of yoga. The muscles of the lungs and chest had gotten stronger. Lung capacity had increased, and it became easier to breathe in.
Breathing deeply. In springtime.
I can feel strength coming to me, finally. Maybe someday I can actually lift those drum sticks. Maybe after that, even strike a drum.
I look forward to many more springs.
(Photo courtesy of MageTV.)
