Literally the “Harvesting” Festival

On November 7th, a festival, called the harvest festival, was held in Iketani, and approximately 70 people participated.

This festival is to celebrate the annual local harvest. Started in 2005, the year after the Chuetsu Earthquake, people commemorate the harvest of rice from September to October. Before the earthquake, people from big cities seldom visited Iketani, so at that time only the local farmers held this celebration, called nojin (farmers) festival or Iro party meaning the celebration of rewarding people for their dedication and services, after harvesting rice.

As usual, we celebrated this year’s harvest with food raised with nature’s blessings in Iketani, and this was literally “a festival to celebrate harvest.” JEN volunteers cooked carp that were caught in a local pond and gathered persimmons. Cooking raw carp was my first time, since I grew up in the urban area. 

What I tasted through this festival was not just fresh meals but meals with new experiences!