Tondo time
Early January sees communities all over Japan setting fire to pyramids of bamboo. Neighbours gather and build the bonfire, and then New Year decorations, children's calligraphy, and hopes and wishes for the year are attached to the structure.
Then the whole thing is set ablaze.
The heat is intense and sake is heated in the hollowed out branches of bamboo. Sparks fly. Burn holes appear in clothing.
Mochi (rice cakes) are squeezed into the split ends of thin bamboo branches and roasted over the embers. More sake is drunk from cups fashioned from the bamboo itself.
Then the feast begins. Coals from the tondo fire are moved into a series of barbeques. Hands get burnt.
This year my family ate roasted wild boar caught by the locals. An old guy of few words remarked drily, "It should taste good - it ate enough of my rice before we caught it!"
Then the whole thing is set ablaze.
The heat is intense and sake is heated in the hollowed out branches of bamboo. Sparks fly. Burn holes appear in clothing.
Mochi (rice cakes) are squeezed into the split ends of thin bamboo branches and roasted over the embers. More sake is drunk from cups fashioned from the bamboo itself.
Then the feast begins. Coals from the tondo fire are moved into a series of barbeques. Hands get burnt.
This year my family ate roasted wild boar caught by the locals. An old guy of few words remarked drily, "It should taste good - it ate enough of my rice before we caught it!"
posted by jh at 15.1.06
7 Comments:
Thanks for stopping by.
We have nothing having to do with this festival around here. A little boring, I would love to go to one of these.
They are usually great fun and the sake tends to flow. I really recommend it if you get the chance next year.
Have you abandoned us?
By the way, your festival sounds way better than mine. No barbecue in Hagoromocho, just that miserable bean and mochi soup followed by cotton candy.
Still here.
This year the family went further into the sticks for tondo. I stayed home keeping an eye on a boy with a high temperature.
Our local tondo wasn't that special the previous year, but I think we will go local next time, what with it being a community event and all.
Never heard of this festival until recently - not something you get in the cities, obviously.
Wild boar is bad for you and them!
Think you're right, Japanvisitor ... a festival mainly for the countryside, but parts of Hiroshima City also have it.
Boar can very bad! Lots of food poisoning cases every year from bad BBQing.
Cooked well it can be really good.
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