Four corners

The neighborhood mikoshi resting on sawhorses outside the community center, with lanterns, rope, and a taiko drum beside it — Our neighborhood mikoshi

This past weekend, we held our neighborhood's annual summer festival. As part of the tradition, we load this mikoshi, or portable shrine, onto the back of a kei truck and take it to the four corners of the neighborhood.

At each stop, we unload it, position it with the front facing south, turn it around four times, and then raise and lower it while chanting, "Wasshoi! Wasshoi!"

Basically, we are carrying the local kami through the neighborhood to bless the area and pray for good fortune and a bountiful rice harvest.

And then everyone goes back to the community center to hang out, drink, and eat.