News>Yokota celebrates Tanabata Festival with local community
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Mikoshi shrine carriers hoist their shrine in front of Fussa City Hall, Fussa City, Japan, on Aug. 3, 2012. Multiple shrines were carried from a nearby Shinto shrine to City Hall during the 62nd annual Fussa Tanabata Festival. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Samuel Morse)
A Japanese girl stands on a mobile stage during the Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, on Aug. 3, 2012. The stages featured traditional Japanese characters such as the fox and oni, a Japanese demon, as part of the festivities. This year marked the 62nd annual Tanabata Festival in Fussa, and attracted people from all over the surrounding area. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt Stacy Moless)
Military members from Yokota Air Base carry a mikoshi shrine during the Fussa Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, Aug. 3, 2012. At many points during the mikoshi parade, the various groups carrying mikoshi would raise the shrines and cheer in front of mobile stages. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt Stacy Moless)
A Japanese man poses for a photo during the Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, on Aug. 3, 2012. This year marked the 62nd annual Tanabata Festival in Fussa. The festival included several parades as well as street vendors selling a variety of traditional Japanese festival foods. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt Stacy Moless)
Military members from Yokota Air Base get help carry a mikoshi shrine with their Japanese friends during the Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, Aug. 3, 2012. The festival gives Yokota members an opportunity to meet and build friendships with the local community while experiencing Japanese culture. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Stacy Moless)
Japanese and American mikoshi shrine carriers chant and clap during the 62nd annual Fussa Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, Aug. 3, 2012. Known as the star festival, Tanabata celebrates the meeting of the two stars Altair and Vega, usually separated from each other by the Milky Way galaxy. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Samuel Morse)
Minyo odori dancers perform at the 62nd annual Fussa Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, Aug. 3, 2012. The festival included several parades as well as street vendors selling a variety of traditional Japanese festival foods. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Samuel Morse)
David Coleman enjoys the 62nd annual Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, with his son, Adam, August 3, 2012. Tanabata is the Japanese star festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival, celebrating the meeting of the stars Vega and Altair. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Lynsie Nichols)
Mckinzie Voyles, daughter of U.S. Air Force Band of the Pacific-Asia audio engineer Staff Sgt. Joshua Voyles, smiles with an ice cream cone during the 62nd Annual Fussa Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, Aug. 2, 2012. The Tanabata Festival gave Yokota Air Base, Japan, residents a chance to experience Japanese culture with their families. This was Mckinzie's first time at a Japanese festival, and her first time having an ice cream cone. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Samuel Morse)
Volunteers from Yokota Air Base carry a mikoshi shrine through downtown Fussa City, Japan, during the 62nd annual Fussa Tanabata Festival Aug. 3, 2012. Approximately 80 service members from Yokota helped carry the shrine through the half-mile parade route. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Samuel Morse)
A Japanese child uses a hyoshigi, a wooden clapper, during the Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, on Aug. 3, 2012. This year marked the 62nd annual Tanabata Festival in Fussa, and it attracts people from all over the surrounding area. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class John D. Partlow)
A Japanese man attending the 2012 Tanabata Festival, videotapes the crowd before the start of the Mikoshi Shrine Carrying Parade in Fussa City, Japan, August 3, 2012. He collects video and still photos for his YouTube page each year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Krystal M. Garrett)
Yokota Air Base members and their Japanese friends celebrate the evening during the Tanabata festival in Fussa City, Japan, Aug. 3, 2012. The festival gives Yokota members an opportunity to meet and build friendships with the local community while experiencing Japanese culture. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Andrea Salazar)
A festival dancer talks to a crowd of people after her performance durin gthe Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, Aug. 3, 2012. The festival included traditional Japanese dance performances and groups carrying mikoshi shrines from Shinmeisya Shrine to Fussa City Hall. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Andrea Salazar)
Staff Sgt. Darril Posas, 374th Communication Squadron NCO in charge of network applications, tries squid on a stick for the first time while attending the Tanabata Festival in Fussa City, Japan, August 4, 2012. "The taste was different, but I would definitely have it again," Posas said. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Krystal M. Garrett)
A street vendor cooks yakisoba at the Fussa Tanabata Festival Aug. 4, 2012, in Fussa City, Japan. Vendors featuring a variety of foods lined the streets of Fussa for festival participants to enjoy. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Desiree Economides)
Airmen from Yokota Air Base, Japan, carry a Shinto shrine while participating in Fussa City's Tanabata Festival, Aug. 7, 1975. (U.S. Air orceF photo courtesy of 374 AW History Office)
by 2nd Lt. Jacob N. Bailey
374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
8/6/2012 - YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan -- The steady beat of drums welcomed Airmen and residents from Yokota as they attended Fussa City's 62nd Annual Tanabata Festival Aug. 3.
Approximately 80 Team Yokota Airmen participated in the ceremonial opening parade, taking turns as they carried a "mikoshi," a portable Shinto shrine, on their shoulders through the streets of Fussa.
The Japanese tradition of carrying a mikoshi dates back to as early as the eighth century, and it is a longstanding belief that transporting the shrine will bring about good fortune.
According to Dr. John Treiber, historian for the 374th Airlift Wing, Yokota's involvement in the Tanabata Festival dates back more than 50 years.
"As early as 1958, Yokotans were going to the Tanabata Festival in Fussa. The earliest proof I have of Americans carrying the mikoshi is 1975," said Treiber.
Although the shrine weighs nearly a ton, Yokota's Airmen were up for the challenge as they carried the mikoshi a half mile through Fussa's city center. Airmen rotated duties through a coordinated effort to keep fresh legs under the shrine as it was transported. A crowd lined the city street and cheered them on as they passed.
"The crowd was great," said Tech. Sgt. Joe Brockman, an emergency manager from the 374th Civil Engineer Squadron. "They definitely helped keep our motivation and energy up."
Airmen cooled off with refreshments afterward and enjoyed Japanese cuisine from various food stands.
The three-day festival also featured traditional Minyo Odori folk dancers and an animated procession of costumed characters such as dragons, foxes and monkeys.
For some of the Airmen, it was their first opportunity to experience a Japanese cultural event.
"It was invigorating to experience another culture like this firsthand," said Senior Airman Michael Jones, a technician assigned to the 374th Medical Surgical Squadron. "Carrying the mikoshi was a good workout, too."
