In the last weekend of August, I went to a fun, lively samba festival in Tokyo. It was the 32nd Asakusa Carnival Contest (弟32回浅草サンバカーニバレコンテスト), a vibrant 5-hour parade in the same style as the famous Rio de Janeiro Canival (Carnaval no Rio de Janeiro) from Brazil. In general, carnival consists of various samba schools competing to show off their best costumes, floats, music, and atmosphere to represent their particular theme (enredo, in Portuguese). Each team is made up of several main sections; (1) a small opening group of dancers who introduce the school/team and set the mood, (2) a mix of people who ride on the floats--dancers, people waving, and one person wearing an highly-decorated costume, (3) people walking along with the float, including more dancers, musicians, etc. It's worth noting that I've personally never been to any other carnival festival, so these details are simply based on my observations and some very basic research. Someday, hopefully I'll be able to see the real thing!
Participating groups came in many shapes and sizes. There was a lot of variation. Among the many teams, I saw Brazilian samba dancers, Japanese samba dancers, middle school students, very young children, old men and women, and nearly-naked dancers proudly shaking their butts while others calmly waving their hand while wearing heavily multi-layered dresses in the hot Tokyo sun. It was very fun and truly impressive. The energy level was extraordinary and it was easy to see that everyone was having a great time. Many of the costumes were very sexy, but for me the most enjoyable aspects were seeing the over-the-top, bright, colorful designs and overemphasized, playful facial expressions and gestures the dancers made throughout the parade. It was super fun to photograph.
The music was also exciting, with very upbeat, and often fast-paced beats and rhythms. Most teams had musicians jamming out on drums, guitars, bells, etc. Some of the specific instruments I saw and heard being played were the repinique (medium-sized two-headed drum), caixa (small drum), tamborim (hand-sized drum), rocar (a set of small cymbals), agogô (bell instrument), and cavaquinho (a small guitar similar to a ukelele). The music was blasting from large speakers on each team's float as the dancers danced and sang to the lively rhythms. I even saw a few spectators start dancing in the crowd.
The parade is a ton of fun and feels very light-hearted, but at the same time it's still a real contest between participating teams. This year, 19 teams competed in the festival, which is organized into two leagues. The S1 league is composed of the best teams and allows for a larger number of participants and some special perks like the use of allegoria handcarts (type of parade floats). The S2 league is thus composed of smaller teams, with less perks, who are striving to get into the top league. They can achieve this by becoming the winning team in the parade contest, which will enter them into the S1 league in the following year.
Teams are judged on the following aspects: (1) representation of theme, (2) dynamism (3) costume design, (4) performance, (5) dancing, and (6) overall evaluation. The winners receive not only bragging rights but also real cash prizes. For 2013, the team, "G.R.E.S. Uniao Dos Amadores" (or "G.R.E.S. Union Of Amateurs"), swept the competition and won first place in the S1 league, won the Asahi Breweries Special Award, and even won the Jury Special Prize. The first place team in the S2 league was, 自由の森学園サンバ音楽隊 (Jiyu no Morigakuen Samba Ongakutai, or roughly translating to, "Freedom Forest Academy Samba Musicians"). Congratulations to these teams for a job well done!
This was an incredible, unique experience and I definitely want to go again. I highly recommend going to anyone that has the chance. It's scheduled on the last Saturday of August every year, and starts in the early afternoon. The parade route runs very near Tokyo's oldest temple, Senso-ji Temple (金龍山浅草寺), located in Asakusa (浅草); starting on Umamichi Street (near Nitenmon Gate) and turning onto Kaminarimon Street. This makes it very easy to get there via public transit as the area is just a quick walk from Tokyo Metro Tawaramachi Station / Asakusa Station. Since the event draws an estimated half million people yearly, it's important to get there early and find a good place to sit. I didn't know this ahead of time, but there are places where you can actually set up a small tarp, cooler, cushions, etc., right on the street (I saw this on the east side of Umamichi Street). Don't wait until the last minute to find a spot or else you'll likely be standing behind a bunch of old, sweaty Japanese guys (which happened to me for the first two hours of the parade).
