A few weekends ago we went into the city with our Host Dad and two of his kids. It was very interesting! In the past they would get the horses drunk and they would stagger around all day. However, they are not allowed to make the horses drunk because of animal cruelty, so the horses just stagger around because they are scared. The horses take the lead of the groups, then they are followed by a person that is supposed to rile up the group. It is supposed to look like the people are chasing the horses. We had a pretty sweet spot to watch the parade because the horses were stopped because of traffic and the city tram. After a while we went to the end of the parade route to watch them take the horses away and also to check out the shrine.
"The festival continues for 5 days. On the first day, the head of Fujisakigu believers prays, and there are ceremonies of lion dance dress purification, musical instrument purification and purification of various instruments.
On the next day, there are a tea dedication ceremony and a haiku dedication ceremony. On the third day, Kenpei Sai (a divine ceremony), dedication of Japanese traditional fighting matches such as fencing, and dedication of traditional Japanese dancing. On the fourth day, purification and decorations of horses, dedication of flower arrangement and travelling portable shrines.
On the fifth day is the parade, headed by kannushi, starting at 6 a.m. (starting ceremony), three portable shrines, parades of followers, lion dances, portable shrines carried by children, and finally the groups of decorated horses. Decorated horse group people are dressed in uniforms of their own, dancing with folding fans, drums, trumpets, shouting "Dookai Dookai" (meaning "how about this?"), chasing the decorated horse of their group. Some horses run violently and sometimes injure people nearby. These groups are from town groups, companies, and graduates of schools and other groups.
The order of the parade is determined by drawing lots. Exceptions are the top three groups which exist near the shrine; which must do preparations and cleanup after the festival." - Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boshita_Festival
The festival parade gets a little repetitive after a while, but it is still neat. It probably would have been a different experience if we had been drunk along with the parade participants XD People have told me that at the end of the parade at the shrine the horses are slaughtered (horse meat is a delicacy in Kumamoto), but I didn't see any of that...maybe it happened behind closed doors.
In the videos below you can really get the full experience of the parade, the only thing I missed capturing was the especially rowdy horses.
-J
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