Iketani’s Day of Re-Departure

On December 14th, a ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of the re-building of the Iketani village Meeting House. Tenjin-bayashi(*1) was performed at the beginning of the ceremony and during the banquet, foods from the local area were served. It ended up being a wonderful ceremony filled with the character of Iketani village. Surface damage caused by the Chuetsu Earthquake has now mostly disappeared after the completion of repairs to the meetinghouse.

The meeting house is named “Blooming Iketani”(Minoru Ikedan)(*2) as Iketani has now begun selling rice and local special products. In this way, the path of recovery in Iketani/Iriyama has also begun.

“Snow Busters”, as everyone already knows, is starting in January. Please come and visit the re-built Meeting House and see how village residents are taking steps forward.

(*1)Tenjin-bayashi is an old celebration song of Iketani. Usually it is sung after two or three drinks during the banquet.

(*2)Ikedan means Iketani in the Iketani dialect. Today, people still call Iketani, “Ikedan” with an affectionate attachment.