During the first weekend of September, in the mountainous area of Niigata, just before the rice harvesting begins, the community of Koshirakura village gathers for the annual Maple Tree Festival, the Momijihiki, a tradition that is believed to be more than 160 years old. During the festival a tree - believed at this time to be inhabited by a god who is being thanked for all blessings - is cut down and carried from the mountain to the shrine for a night of singing and dancing. The main festival begins the following morning when the tree is dragged around the village amongst a lot of drinking, singing, shouting and water fighting. It stops at houses whose occupants have special reasons to offer thanks to the god and who will consequently provide sake for everyone. For the last 18 years the festival has gradually been reinvented with the incorporation of architectural students from around the world into this farming community, where the average age of the villagers is 65. It is this strange and improbable scenario, in which a sense of friction and mixture of ages and languages collaborate, that makes the festival so magical - with the help of the good local sake.
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