Festival Foods

Summer time in Japan is festival season. They happen all over the city and the country. Different wards, shrines and even some neighborhoods put on their own festivals. The reasons for a festival are either ancient, long forgotten or just because. The atmosphere at a festival is awesome and you don't need to know what's going on to enjoy it. Just show up and enjoy the vibe. If you're visiting with a Japanese person don't expect them to know what's going on either. There are a million reasons for local communities to have festivals and if they aren't from that community they may not know much about the festival.
Other than the food and drinks.

The food and drinks are generally the same at all the different festivals. Of course there are some foods native to the region (lamb in Hokkaido festivals, soki soba in okinawa) but the things I'll show you in this post will be at any festival you might find yourself at.  Like I said, if you visit between June and August you will find yourself at a festival at some point.

First things first, go get your drinks sorted. It's going to be hot if you're in Tokyo for a summer festival. Ice cold beer is always good but this is definitely a good moment for a Chu Hi. A Chu Hi is a canned cocktail made with Shochu ( the Japanese liquor that isn't sake) and soda.  The name Chu Hi comes from the "chu" in shochu and the "high" in highball. So a Shochu Highball. Chu hi. Then they add different flavors...a ton of different flavors. Pineapple, mandarin, grapefruit (my favorite) to name the standard ones. They even have things like Lychee and Blood Orange for the not so standard. Try a bunch of these, they're everywhere. 

Who needs pants when you've got legs for days?

These are the guys who put the shrines on their back and carry it around the neighborhood, sharing the love. Maybe don't bug them for a group photo. These guys aren't festival attendees like everyone else, they've got things to do.

Even the Goth kids are getting in on the fun.

Nice to meat you.

It wouldn't be street food without something skewered.  From left to right we have pork belly, rib, lightly salted tongue and wagyu (Japanese domestic beef).  Prices start at around 5 USD. It's a lot of meat.

Jyaga butter. This means buttered potato. They aren't messing around either. These are potatoes that have been steaming all day and are basically just fluffy carb bombs that you can then drown in butter. If that sounds too light for your tastes you can also douse it in mayonnaise and add some miso. Do it!

If the potato didn't float your boat you can grab a skewered cucumber. They're served ice cold and you can dip them in soy sauce, mayonnaise or mentaiko mayonnaise. Mentaiko Mayonnaise is the pink mayonnaise. Why is it pink? Because of all of the delicious cod eggs they've added to it. Again, sounds extreme but it's actually a really nice, spicy mayonnaise.

I wanted some noodles.  So i got some noodles.

Okonomiyaki on a stick! If you don't know what okonomiyaki is go here and you can thank me later. It's wonderful.

After all of this salt you're going to need a refill.

See those golden balls of dough in the little paper boats? That's takoyaki. Takoyaki is more famous in Osaka but you can still find it in Tokyo. They are little balls of batter that each have a chunk of octopus (tako) inside. If you like octopus you'll love these little guys. They come with okonomiyaki sauce on top, shredded dried seaweed and bonito flake. Quite tasty.

Get ready to have your mind blown. If you've ever had gyoza (little fried dumplings stuffed with pork, cabbage, garlic and I'm guessing heroin) than you should be on the lookout for this one.  This is a gyoza BUT instead of being wrapped in the traditional pasta like gyoza skin, this bad boy is wrapped in grilled chicken wing skin. Oh my, yes please!

For you fish lovers these guys are one of my faves! The fish type may very but they are always fresh water fish, skewered, salted and then slowly cooked on the skewer.  There are bones but the skin will just fall off these guys. They have a wonderful salty flavor with a very meaty texture for a white fish.

"You're killing me with this salt, Richard. When's dessert?"

Chocolate dipped bananas....that are off to a pride parade, or something.

Little cakes stuffed with (left to right) anko (sweet beans...try it!) cream (like a custard), chocolate and cheese.

Candied strawberries.

If you skip the other desserts, get this one. This is the more traditional of the lot. These are mochi. Mochi are rice cakes, chewy, filling and cute. They can be dipped in (left to right) kinako (sweetened soy bean powder) macha (green tea powder) as well as stuffed with anko (sweet beans). Personal recommendation is the anko stuffed with kinako sprinkled on top.

More candied fruits. This time on ice!

I dont want to go to into the history of the festival. I'm trying to keep this blog about food. The festival we attended was at the Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku. This is an Inari shrine that was built in the Edo Period (1700s) Inari is an androgynous god of fertility and worldly success. This place is right next to Golden Gai, one of my favorite drinking destinations in Tokyo. So even if there isn't a Matsuri going on, this is a great place to walk through day or night.

Also, Japanese people LOVE sharing these parts of their culture with foreign people. They love it. They want you to take photos, tell your friends and they want you to all come back in Yukata. This is NOT like wandering into a Catholic Church in say, the States, and taking photos of people drinking the wine. These are local celebrations where the money made helps the upkeep of the shrine. They want you to join them. So don't be shy or worry that you might do something wrong. Eat, drink and compliment them on the awesome atmosphere they have created in Tokyo.

Here's a little video if you want to try and soak up the festival vibe.