Kirk here with some information about an opportunity that I think should interest some of you. It’s about an event to be held in Kikuchi on Tuesday, October 15th. The Japanese announcement says that they are looking for volunteers to dress up as “Kikuchi Musha” (samurai warriors of Kikuchi) and participate in the “Musha Gyoretsu” (parade of warriors) to be held on that day. The Facebook announcement also says that all interested persons are welcome . . . women, men, foreign, Japanese. I am quite sure that they are sincere about wanting non-Japanese people to participate because this morning I got a message from the mayor of Kichichi, Mr. Egashira, asking that I tell readers of this page about the opportunity.
If you are interested, you need to call 0968-25-0513 by the 24th of this month. One of the people who might answer the phone speaks English quite well but there’s also a good chance that your interlocutor will not be fluent in English. So, if you’re not confident in your ability to communicate in Japanese, you may want to ask a friend for help. Also, on the 15th you will receive instructions in Japanese so it might be a good idea to recruit a Japanese-speaking friend to participate with you if you are worried about understanding these instructions. (This is not a requirement of Kikuchi City – just something that I am recommending.)
As of this morning, there are plenty of openings. It is possible, however, that the available positions will be taken up before the September 24th deadline. So, if you are interested, don’t delay. I’ve been told that they will approve requests to participate on a first come, first served basis.
By the way, if those of you who participate might be willing to share a photo or two and/or a brief report about the experience, I’ll be more that happy to share that on this page.
https://www.facebook.com/kikuchikanko/posts/1391086474374737?__tn__=-R