Another look back to Nagasaki in this post, the dragon boat race is another imported tradition that the Nagasakians… yeah, Nagasakians, take more seriously than is entirely sensible.
Japan was sealed off to the outside world for 400 or so years leading up to the 1860s. Only a small number of Chinese were allowed on the mainland and only in Nagasaki. They brought the tradition of dragon boat racing with them, and now the harbourside villagers of Nagasaki reignite the practice every summer.
What this involves is every village in a district putting forward a team and making a boat. Every member of the team makes their own paddle, and then everyone gets out on the water and trains like a beast every single night until the race day.
And it is hard. freakin. work.
Props to Motomura village for letting a few of the international students from Gaidai join the team and props to those guys for showing some yamato spirit. Come the day they didn’t win a great bunch of races, but man they learned what the word ‘Gambaru’ really means.
The Japanese say the journey is more important than the destination right? Fair shout.
