Tokaido Seki-Juku Festival in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture

An exocticly dressed woman with her own personal parasol bearer was making her way slowly down the street stretching her feet out in a sweeping motion with each step she took.

By this time, the street was so crowded, it was difficult to move in either direction.  But being in the middle of this crowd was much more exciting than riding the subway in Tokyo!

While I was waiting for the masses to pass by, I decided to get a sausage to pass the time.  One of the best things about festivals is trying many different kinds of food! The “baby castella” cakes, mochi snack and the sausage wasn’t quite enough...

...so I decided to get some mixed rice as well to finish it all off. It’s really good, but you should be careful trying to eat this while walking in the crowd!

There were areas for children to play games and for people to sit down and relax. There was also a bazaar area where children’s toys, miscellaneous handmade crafts, and used clothing were being sold.  I also found some classic style figurines such as Godzilla and robots from various animations. There were some even cool boards that you can stand behind and stick your face through so I couldn’t resist asking someone to take my photo.

A little further down the road, I came to an interesting looking building.  It was a guest house with the front end of the building open to the main street.  There was a sign written in chalk that read:

三重の古民家ゲストハウス　旅人宿　石垣屋　素泊まり￥２５００〜

ご用のある方は声をかけてください。

Translating roughly to “Mie old house guesthouse, traveler's inn "Ishigakiya", one night from 2500 yen If you need something, just call out.

I asked to see the owner, and a lively and friendly-looking man appearing to be in his 30’s came out.  Takuya was the operator of this inn. Originally from Osaka, Takuya came here in 2009 with his wife and their dog, and a small, “one-box” car. He explained that he found this place by chance. “We walked by the front and the door was open so we popped our heads in to say hello.   The owner said ‘you look like an interesting fellow! Why don’t you live here?’ So my wife and I talked about it. We thought that surely there are great places far away, but there has got to be good places close by as well. So we decided to live here.”

The building was constructed in 1890 and if feels like a museum. There are all sorts of antiques decorated around the rooms. Takuya explained, “People in the neighborhood cleaned out their "kura", or Japanese style storage and kept giving me things so now I decorate the place with the old antiques.”

Guests are separated into two different rooms, men in one room, women in another. There are separate restrooms as well but everyone shares the kitchen. Takuya explained that evenings are a lot of fun here. “If you come to Seki-Juku, I recommend staying here as it’s only 2500 yen per person for a night.”  (This price does not include meals.)

I wandered into the kitchen.  I met a guest from Tochigi Prefecture who had come for the festival. Another guest was from Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture. Another was from Azumino, Nagano Prefecture. Yet another from Osaka.

Some of the guests learned about this place on Facebook, some via word of mouth.  And one of them had stayed here for a total of over 100 nights!!

A nearby shop was peddling small packages of snacks. “Help the victims of last month’s typhoon! Buy some chinsuko!” cried a woman. Chinsuko? I thought. That’s a snack from Okinawa! When I asked, the man hawking the cookies with her explained that these chinsuko were made in Matsuzaka. I said I would buy some if he posed with the snacks. After this shot, how could I say no?
There were other musical and dance performances and a variety of shops to look for a nice souvenir or present. All in all, a fun festival, loaded with culture but not weighted down with modern toys and gimmicks that you see at some other festivals.

To visit, take the train to Seki Station on the JR Kansai Main Line. It’s a short walk from there. During the festival, nearby schools and other facilities provide free parking.