The red sun sets in the west, and the evening glow filters through the pine needles, making the branches glow as if they are on fire.
Fujiwara Reya rides a Honda Cub, bidding farewell to the two ladies at the door.
"I’m off to find those two."
"Alright, have fun and don’t worry about coming back early."
"Do you need me to bring anything back for you?"
"Bring me back a grandson."
Amid Mrs. Hoshimi’s angry voice, Fujiwara Reya rides the Honda Cub away from the dojo, heading towards Minami-Izu Town.
The heat is oppressive, showing no sign of dissipating.
On either side of the seaside road, there are many people from nearby villages heading to the town, and among them, girls in yukatas stand out, with many carrying waterproof mats and parasols. Summer festival posters are plastered on the utility poles and walls of houses along the way.
It’s said that the summer festival usually lasts only a day in past years, but this year it spans three full days, enveloping the entire Minami-Izu Town in an unprecedentedly lively atmosphere.
Fujiwara Reya drives past the sparkling waters of the Aono River, and his body also shines with silver light.
Red wildflowers continually flit by the corners of his eyes; on closer inspection, they turn out to be lycorises. They bloom along the roadside, swaying like welcoming hostesses whenever a vehicle passes by.
At five in the evening, the Honda Cub enters the main street of Minami-Izu Town.
This is a small coastal town built upon the mountainside, with sparse buildings like small bookstores, post offices, and restaurants... Most houses are separated by trees, perhaps persimmon trees or something similar.
The ancient temple where the festival is held sits atop the highest hill in town, with a two-kilometer-long stone staircase winding around the mountainside and festival lanterns hanging on either side, leading all the way to the ancient gate at the summit.
Every summer in Japan, thousands of summer festivals take place.
The large ones, like the Ookamizuki Festival or the Sumida River Fireworks Festival, attract millions of visitors; smaller ones, like a neighborhood’s cooling festival, might have only a few dozen attendees.
Fujiwara Reya never misses the summer festival activities every year, and even Hidden God Town itself holds a grand festival every late August.
Countless mythical creatures gather on Nagano County Divine Mountain, with even many gods descending from Takamagahara; aside from Old Lady Amaterasu, the supreme deity, the figure Fujiwara Reya remembers most vividly is a giant radish called "God of White." It’s the Agricultural God of the northern Honshu Island, and its appearance... resembles the giant radish from "Spirited Away."
Miyazaki Hayao might know a little something.
Arriving at the temple steps, Fujiwara Reya parks the bike and steps towards the meeting point.
The path is lined with stalls selling takoyaki, grilled corn, fried noodles, goldfish scooping, and shooting games. Nearby convenience stores and taverns have moved tables out onto the street to drum up business. Overall, while the crowd isn’t huge, the small venue makes it feel bustling.
A group of people are dancing the summer festival dance on an open space in front of the steps.
Leading the dance is a priestly figure, accompanied by a dozen young men carrying portable shrines. They are dressed identically: white cloth on their heads, white cloth and blue patterned Japanese-style jackets on their bodies, secured with a belt, and wearing traditional "festive shoes" on their feet.
Fujiwara Reya buys a bowl of shaved ice and eats while watching.
Soon, a group of girls in lavish kimonos takes the stage. They’re young, about fourteen or fifteen. Their faces are uniformly covered in thick white powder, with eyes sparkling as if freshly washed.
In the center of the dancing girls, the leading girl has slightly arched eyebrows, looking quite cute. Her face is adorned with round bell-like eyes, with rouge applied at the edges, giving her a charm beyond her years.
There’s no way Minami-Izu could produce so many radiant girls.
Fujiwara Reya can tell without thinking that this is a performance troupe hired from elsewhere, given their dances and extravagant costumes; they might even be of the highest caliber.
A small temple in a town of fewer than twenty thousand people managing to host such a large-scale festival... Fujiwara Reya can’t help but remark that Japanese monks are really wealthy.
Finishing the shaved ice, his mouth feels a bit dry.
With the two little witches yet to arrive, Fujiwara Reya decides to get a cup of milk tea from a roadside beverage shop and waits while drinking.
Several potted camellias are placed in front of the beverage shop, with neatly trimmed branches displaying five or six multi-petaled camellias. Feeling a bit bored, Fujiwara Reya casually chats with the shop owner.
"These camellias are really beautiful."
"Oh, you’re talking about these, huh?" The shop owner becomes interested, "Multi-petaled camellias aren’t great; when it comes to bonsai, I’m limited to camellias. Let me show you something better."
Saying this, he dives into the shop and comes out with two camellia bonsai trees.
The two old trees had sturdy trunks, full of vitality. The branches as thick as chopsticks still carried leaves, with two or three clusters of white flowers blooming at the tips.
"I can’t let the flowers stay on the trees, so I always pluck them off," the shop owner says with a smile, seemingly proud of his work, "Although many flowers bloomed, I left only a few after appropriate pruning, and the whole thing turned out more beautiful."
Fujiwara Reya discussed pruning bonsai with him, also talking about the lifestyle habits of Minami-Izu people.
As they talked, the performing girls had left the stage. About half of them sat on chairs in front of the beverage shop, while the rest browsed the stalls on both sides. They were all gorgeously made up, wearing luxurious costumes. Fujiwara Reya watched them for a while until his eyes blurred; he couldn’t remember any faces.