Most festivals in Japan, commonly known as matsuri, vary in style and purpose from region to region and city to city. In their diversity, however, there runs a common underlying theme: sell, sell, sell. That's right, you can find the true Japanese spirit alive and well at these festivals, whether it be the annual New Year's Festival tropical Okinawa or the Ice Festival up in snow-covered Sapporo. The streets of these matsuri are almost always packed with stands offering all sorts of food, dinky little games with colorful prizes, and trinkets of all different shapes and sizes. People move in waves through the streets, weaving in and out of stands and stopping occasionally if they see something they like.

As much as I make these festivals out to be just big money days for Japanese vendors, I must admit that most of them do have a focal point of cultural importance. It's just that the purpose of these ceremonies can easily be forgotten in the midst of all the noise and excitement, as well as the distractions presented by the vendors calling out to potential customers. I suppose in a way it is like Christmas has become in America. We get so caught up in the shopping and festivities that we too often forget what we're really celebrating. Then again, maybe that was just my personal take on the festivals and the attitudes of the people attending, and maybe most Japanese do actually appreciate the true meaning of these joyous events.

At any rate, I attended a number of various matsuri and found most to be quite entertaining. I took plenty of pictures at these festivals, and have divided them up below according to which festival they were taken at. Notice also that I included a group of pictures called hanami, which refers to the cherry blossom season in Japan. Though not a festival, this is one of Japan's most famous seasons, when most Japanese venture outdoors and find a nice tree under which to consume massive amounts of food and spirits while enjoying the beauty of the pink cherry blossoms with friends and family. Below are the festivals of which I have pictures: