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Tim Indonesia di festival rakyat kota tahara, jepang

Tahara City Citizen Festival and Indonesian Traditional Clothing Parade

In tahara festival, each participant from community, students, and fire fighter etc wear costume and parade within the town square. Some also do performances.

The third week after I come to Japan, I participate in my third festival (and my third typhoon). This festival is held in Tahara city, the next city from Toyohashi. It is only 30 minutes by bus. Our Indonesian team are picked up by the committee from campus, depart at 08.20 o’clock. The committee gives us Toyohashi university student a total of 10 people quota for this festival. Indonesian students fill them all. But then we negotiate it for 15 people, also for Indonesian. But, 18 people participate eventually.

Each participant is tasked to store the Indonesian traditional clothing clean it up right after the Gikadaisai last week. I have the honor to wear the wedding costume from Minang. Right after arriving to Tahara, there are already crowds in the street. Immediately we were told to change into costume and go to the street.

The three traditional clothing for Indonesian wedding
The three groom

Japanese has so many festival and each city own unique festival. The standard question then is.

What kind of festival it?

In a word: parade.

The official name of the festival is as below, meaning Tahara folk festival or Tahara citizen festival.

田原市民まつり - Tahara Shimin Matsuri - Tahara Folk Festival
田原市民まつり – Tahara Shimin Matsuri – Tahara City Citizen Festival

It is quite similar from the Toyohashi Festival where we danced in the night. But here is not night, and do not dance. The participant will parade through the city wearing their own uniform and performance. It includes local students from primary school to high school, us – the international students from TUT, other international contingent, local community, local business, fire fighter, etc. So many people participates.

We parade from our bus parking lot until the town square. We parade, so that means on foot. Well, not for the fire fighter truck.

Indonesian delegation parade right in front of the fire fighter's truck
We parade right in front of the Shobosha

We parade almost in the last of the parade line. But right in front of the fire fighters. On the day, we were sent a very good weather, even though the typhoon struct yesterday. However, the wind is still quite strong and chilly. It should be noted that we are not wearing jacket. Well, because we wear the traditional cloth!

As I mention, I wear the groom costume of the Minang Wedding Costume. Well, when there is a groom, there is a bride. Well, here are list of photos at the wedding parade.

Like I said, every teams and delegations have their own costume and performance. Some are monsters. Cute monsters.

Oh by the way, in the middle of the parade, the lines stop in a crossroad. Some children from local school performs in the crossroad. I do not understand most of the performance though. Because some of the kids perform by speaking something like self introduction, poem, public speaking or something. Some kids also show off their drawing and musical performance.

And here is the panorama of the performance in the folk festival.

Panorama in the Tahara Festival performance stage
Panorama in the Tahara performance stage

I also record some of the performance in the festival. As follow.

This one, I am not sure what are they doing. Do you know?

And here is collaboration between Marching Band of Primary School Student and Professional Marching Band. Super cool… They are so good!


Oh, one funny comment that I got from the festival is from some auntie visitors regarding my cloth. She was quite curious about the clothing, what kind it is, why is it so glamorious, oh for kekkonshiki (wedding), from which country and region, wait, is the crown heavy? 2 kilograms??

And the funniest comment is:

Anatatachi wa fufu?

Are you guys a couple? And of course I answer with.

Aa, chigaimasu.

No mam, of course not. And they are doubling down.

Sugu kekkonsuru no? Jya, nande futari wa kono fuku erabuno?

Then, will you marry soon. Why do you two chose to wear the cloth?

Which of course our friends made fun of use without ends after that.

Eetttooo… Tama-tama desu…

Ummm… It was just a coincidence..

At 1 o’lock in the afternoon, the festival ends. We change costume back into plain cloth in the International Affairs Division of Tahara City government.

As a final words, this festival is so satisfying. Just like the festival I attended before. Ah.. I want to visit other Japanese festivals…

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