Tottori Shan Shan Matsuri

Tottori is a forgotten part of Japan. It sometimes gets mixed up with neighbouring Shimane and does not attract as many tourists, domestic or international, as other places like Kyoto or Tokyo. It has famous sights like the Tottori Sand Dunes and cool folk tales about bunnies and sharks. Presumably it’s not forgotten if you live there.

I can’t remember how I found out about the Shan Shan Festival. I may have been searching for lesser known summer festivals in Japan or something. I saw some pictures of a parade of people dancing with umbrellas and thought it would be a cool festival to see.
 

Get thee to Tottori:
JR Limited Express Super Hakuto train from Osaka Station
Price (as of October 2015) : 6,470 yen for fare and for non-reserved seat.
(It’s probably worth paying the extra 620 yen to get a reserved seat. Mid August is one of the busiest times for travel on JR trains, after all)
It takes about two and a half hours from Osaka to Tottori City. 

If you can get to Tottori city early in the afternoon, a trip to the Sand Dunes is highly recommended.Don’t forget to bring sunglasses! You might even see a camel.

Back in the city, there are stalls along most of the parade streets. The usual festival fare is available – octopus treats, beer, sponge cakes. I can’t seem to find any food unique to Tottori at these stalls but the atmosphere is great. 

There is a full list of participating troupes that helpful parade marshals hand out. Big employers like hospitals, factories and department stores have representative troupes. And most have special outfits for the parade.

 -

The Shan Shan festival was much less giddy than other festivals I have seen in Japan during the summer. But it gets extra fish points for being so unique. Brollies!

 Further fish points are netted because of how easy it is to get around the parade routes and find really nice vantage points. The more colossal fetes like Awa Odori in Tokushima don’t really have that. Conceivably, you could find a dance troupe with particularly fetching costumes or notably expert umbrella swinging technique and get lots of good pictures of them from lots of different places. 

(I attended this festival on Friday, August 14th 2015)