Kobe Matsuri, round 2 (for me, anyway)
Last weekend, I took the night bus from Tachikawa to Osaka- roughly an 8 hour trip in which I slept about as well as you can sleep on a bus- in the beginning of my Osaka/Kobe Star Wars weekend. Since I've started working at Kotobukiya, I get to geek out a bit every day, but this was a chance to go full bore, costume and all.
I arrived in Osaka with a little time to kill before the rehearsal meeting. I decided to walk to the meeting place rather than take the train. It was only about 3-4 km, and I'm used to taking the dog on long walks everyday, so I decided to save the train fare and take in a little of the Osaka station environs. The dog stayed in Tokyo with her new veterinarian, but I did bring Godzilla with me. Some window washers provided me the chance for a couple of new shots (I noticed when loading them up to flickr that I haven't taken any new Godzilla shots since last year's kobe Matsuri):
At the station, one might have at first confused the group with a kendo team by the number of shinai cases present. But these don't contain bamboo kendo sparring swords- they're filled with Lightsabers. A closer look might give you a clue, though, with the Star Wars logos and shirts.
The Kobe Matsuri, by the way, has been running in its modern form since 1971, though it has some older roots in earlier festivals and celberations in Kobe. The Japanese page is at http://www.kobe-matsuri.com/ Basically it's now a celebration of several of the cultural inferences on this Japanese port city, which includes everything from boy and girl scouts, school marching bands, lots and lots of Samba and other ethnic dancing clubs and groups, as well as traditional Japanese cultural groups. For the past few years, a group of Star Wars fans including members of the Rebel Legion Japan and the Imperial 501st along with an increasing number of less formally organized Star Wars fans from Osaka, Kobe, and other parts of Japan have joined the parade portion of the festival. Last year, I believe there were 40-50 or so of us. This year, we reached the 75-80 range (I think the actual number was 77, but I could be wrong). With this many people involved, obviously it takes a bit more organization than just "Let's all show up and march in the parade". Hence the Saturday rehearsal.
All of us are divided into 3 groups, based on costume/character and such. This year, the "Fanboys" group led the march. The Fanboys are made up of less-than authentic costumes, but allows for some creativity, such as the return of the Clone Trooper helmet and kimono wearing ladies, the cross between Darth Vader and Captain Jack Sparrow, and people wielding the more toy-like Star Wars merchandise, and then a few of the cosplaying Jedi. I don't have much in the way of photos of these- as I wasn't able to take photos during the parade (being a bit preoccupied) and I'm still waiting for others to post their photos along with the official video. Here are a couple of shots from the Fanboys group at the rehearsal, though:
Following the Fanboys was the "float" which was basically a truck with a few decorations, signs, and the music equipment which was taken care of by an X-wing pilot, a Queen's handmaiden, and the Emperor himself.
Behind the truck came the Jedi who had rehearsed a bit of lightsaber fighting, who were followed in turn by Darth Vader and several stormtroopers, with Boba Fett and Darth Maul in the rear.
The following photos are from the day of the parade itself. There was another meeting in the morning, then it was off to start putting on the costumes. I had the longest prep time with the Darth Maul makeup and bald cap (I need to get better at putting on the bald cap. There were wrinkles. I'd prefer to shave for the costume itself, but then there's a few weeks of being bald afterward, and that doesn't go as well with the new job as it used to). The photos are just from the rehearsal area, but you get a closer look at some of the costumes than you will when you see the video (which I will link once it's been edited and posted by those who recordeed it).
Morning meeting
Stormtroopers suiting up:
You can't really see it here, but the guy in the Fett costume is the first to admit it doesn't fit him as well as it used to. He referred to himself as "Boba Fat" a few times, and joked that he'll play Jabba next year, though he really isn't getting that big yet.
Jedi and Fanboys (looks like I do have a couple of Kimono Clones in the photo):
Jedi and an awkward moment for Leia:
For which I feel I ought to put in a better moment for Leia:
A fan favorite who started as a comic book character and made it into a couple of scenes in the movies:
And finally, myself as Darth Maul (I had the double saber in the parade):
As I mentioned before, I need to improve those wrinkles in the bald cap. I need to get some better horns as well. I was a bit rushed, so this wasn't the most accurately I've done the makeup (I think my Halloween version of Maul from the 2nd Halloween party is still the best), but it wasn't bad. I would actually like to do some other characters, but ever since some of the other people at this event saw the Halloween photos, I've been requested to do Maul for the events I've been able to attend. It's not all bad, though. Maul is a very popular character, and I get a lot of people wanting their pictures taken. More than I would as a Jedi or Stormtrooper (I keep threatening to make a Jar Jar costume), and there is a large part of entertaining others involved in this.
I've seen some great photos from other people who were at the event, but they haven't posted them publicly online yet, so I'm unable to provide any links. Clicking on any of the photos should bring you to my flickr page, which has a few more shots from both days.
A fun moment that I wish someone had recorded: At the end of the parade, after we went back to the place we had rented to change into/out of costumes, I was riding in the elevator along with 5 Stormtroopers, all of us in full costume. The reactions of the people who were waiting on the other floors for the elevator as the doors opened and they saw us was priceless. I also had some fun doing the Jedi hand wave as the doors were opening and closing, to the delight of all.
So yeah, I may be a geek for doing this sort of thing, but at least I'm entertaining others. And something about geeks... Geek Culture is in. It's taken over. The geeks are legion; and among those legions, we are cool.
I arrived in Osaka with a little time to kill before the rehearsal meeting. I decided to walk to the meeting place rather than take the train. It was only about 3-4 km, and I'm used to taking the dog on long walks everyday, so I decided to save the train fare and take in a little of the Osaka station environs. The dog stayed in Tokyo with her new veterinarian, but I did bring Godzilla with me. Some window washers provided me the chance for a couple of new shots (I noticed when loading them up to flickr that I haven't taken any new Godzilla shots since last year's kobe Matsuri):
At the station, one might have at first confused the group with a kendo team by the number of shinai cases present. But these don't contain bamboo kendo sparring swords- they're filled with Lightsabers. A closer look might give you a clue, though, with the Star Wars logos and shirts.
The Kobe Matsuri, by the way, has been running in its modern form since 1971, though it has some older roots in earlier festivals and celberations in Kobe. The Japanese page is at http://www.kobe-matsuri.com/ Basically it's now a celebration of several of the cultural inferences on this Japanese port city, which includes everything from boy and girl scouts, school marching bands, lots and lots of Samba and other ethnic dancing clubs and groups, as well as traditional Japanese cultural groups. For the past few years, a group of Star Wars fans including members of the Rebel Legion Japan and the Imperial 501st along with an increasing number of less formally organized Star Wars fans from Osaka, Kobe, and other parts of Japan have joined the parade portion of the festival. Last year, I believe there were 40-50 or so of us. This year, we reached the 75-80 range (I think the actual number was 77, but I could be wrong). With this many people involved, obviously it takes a bit more organization than just "Let's all show up and march in the parade". Hence the Saturday rehearsal.
All of us are divided into 3 groups, based on costume/character and such. This year, the "Fanboys" group led the march. The Fanboys are made up of less-than authentic costumes, but allows for some creativity, such as the return of the Clone Trooper helmet and kimono wearing ladies, the cross between Darth Vader and Captain Jack Sparrow, and people wielding the more toy-like Star Wars merchandise, and then a few of the cosplaying Jedi. I don't have much in the way of photos of these- as I wasn't able to take photos during the parade (being a bit preoccupied) and I'm still waiting for others to post their photos along with the official video. Here are a couple of shots from the Fanboys group at the rehearsal, though:
Following the Fanboys was the "float" which was basically a truck with a few decorations, signs, and the music equipment which was taken care of by an X-wing pilot, a Queen's handmaiden, and the Emperor himself.
Behind the truck came the Jedi who had rehearsed a bit of lightsaber fighting, who were followed in turn by Darth Vader and several stormtroopers, with Boba Fett and Darth Maul in the rear.
The following photos are from the day of the parade itself. There was another meeting in the morning, then it was off to start putting on the costumes. I had the longest prep time with the Darth Maul makeup and bald cap (I need to get better at putting on the bald cap. There were wrinkles. I'd prefer to shave for the costume itself, but then there's a few weeks of being bald afterward, and that doesn't go as well with the new job as it used to). The photos are just from the rehearsal area, but you get a closer look at some of the costumes than you will when you see the video (which I will link once it's been edited and posted by those who recordeed it).
Morning meeting
Stormtroopers suiting up:
You can't really see it here, but the guy in the Fett costume is the first to admit it doesn't fit him as well as it used to. He referred to himself as "Boba Fat" a few times, and joked that he'll play Jabba next year, though he really isn't getting that big yet.
Jedi and Fanboys (looks like I do have a couple of Kimono Clones in the photo):
Jedi and an awkward moment for Leia:
For which I feel I ought to put in a better moment for Leia:
A fan favorite who started as a comic book character and made it into a couple of scenes in the movies:
And finally, myself as Darth Maul (I had the double saber in the parade):
As I mentioned before, I need to improve those wrinkles in the bald cap. I need to get some better horns as well. I was a bit rushed, so this wasn't the most accurately I've done the makeup (I think my Halloween version of Maul from the 2nd Halloween party is still the best), but it wasn't bad. I would actually like to do some other characters, but ever since some of the other people at this event saw the Halloween photos, I've been requested to do Maul for the events I've been able to attend. It's not all bad, though. Maul is a very popular character, and I get a lot of people wanting their pictures taken. More than I would as a Jedi or Stormtrooper (I keep threatening to make a Jar Jar costume), and there is a large part of entertaining others involved in this.
I've seen some great photos from other people who were at the event, but they haven't posted them publicly online yet, so I'm unable to provide any links. Clicking on any of the photos should bring you to my flickr page, which has a few more shots from both days.
A fun moment that I wish someone had recorded: At the end of the parade, after we went back to the place we had rented to change into/out of costumes, I was riding in the elevator along with 5 Stormtroopers, all of us in full costume. The reactions of the people who were waiting on the other floors for the elevator as the doors opened and they saw us was priceless. I also had some fun doing the Jedi hand wave as the doors were opening and closing, to the delight of all.
So yeah, I may be a geek for doing this sort of thing, but at least I'm entertaining others. And something about geeks... Geek Culture is in. It's taken over. The geeks are legion; and among those legions, we are cool.