At a Japanese summer festival
By Emi Tsuruta
First posted June 16, 2004

On my trip home to Japan last summer, I got to do something I'd never tried before: participate in a matsuri, a Shinto festival.  Of course I'd been to festivals before, but this was the first time I ever participated in one.  It was another one of my boyfriend Ryosuke's ideas, and as usual, we almost ended up getting into trouble, but anyway, it was kind of fun, and I did make a new friend, so it was good that way.

My family isn't very religious, and actually I was kind of surprised when Ryosuke asked me to go to this festival because I didn't think he was either.  Apparently, his friend Taka, the motorcycle mechanic I told you about, goes every year, and helps carry the omikoshi.  An omikoshi is this kind of portable shrine on poles sort of like a palanquin.  The kami, the magical spirit of the shrine, is invited into the omikoshi, and the mikoshi-bearers carry it to the otabisho, a small shrine where there are dances or contests for the kami's entertainment.  Then when the entertainment is over, the kami goes back into the mikoshi, and everyone carries it back to the main shrine.

Usually it's men who do all the carrying, because the mikoshi is very big and heavy.  It takes a whole bunch of people to even lift it.  I guess I'd seen a few women at these festivals dressed up like the guys in the traditional Japanese festival outfit.  Sometimes, there are little kids too.  I'd never really thought about it much before, but anyway, I didn't mind trying.

The next problem was what to wear.  You can't really wear western clothes especially if you're carrying the omikoshi.  Ryosuke said he'd already borrowed a uniform for me from the shrine.  I'd never been to this particular festival before, so I wasn't sure exactly what they wore, but I guessed it would be a pair of shorts and some kind of happi coat, sort of like a judo top, open in the front with no buttons, just a belt that ties around your waist.

The morning of the festival, I headed out in my jeans and a t-shirt.  In the train, suddenly it struck me that it might be one of those festivals where all the men wear fundoshi, loincloths sort of like the ones sumo wrestlers wear.  Oh no!  That would be horrible.  The front is bad enough, but the back isn't much better than a g-string.  I should have brought a pair of shorts.  The more I thought about it, the surer I became that that was exactly what Ryosuke was planning.  Oh well, as long as everyone else is wearing one too, I guess I won't stand out too much.

I met Ryosuke at the train station, and from there, we went to Taka's place to pick up the uniform.  Apparently, his motorcycle shop was one of the sponsors of the festival.  We went into the shop, and up these stairs at the back to Taka's second floor apartment.

Taka was already dressed in his outfit: happi, fundoshi and headband - just as I suspected.  He noticed me staring at his crotch, but he said that's how they always dress for this festival.  I looked over at Ryosuke, but he just shrugged.  I was thinking about backing out, but then we heard Taka's cousins, Ryuu and Yuta, shouting and howling from his bath.  They'd come to help too.

Before I could say anything, Taka handed me my uniform.  It looked the same as the one he was wearing.  I didn't want to make a whole fuss, so I took it from him.  I looked around wondering where I could change, but Taka said I could use the bath once his cousins got out.  When he went in to hurry them up, I couldn't help looking at his backside.  You could practically see his whole bottom.  I guess sumo wrestlers all dress like that too, but it's kind of shocking when you see someone you know in a fundoshi.  I glared at Ryosuke, but he just tried to look innocent.  When he first suggested we go to the festival, I'd thought maybe he was feeling bad about all the horrible things he'd been making me do lately, but now I realized this was just another excuse to get me to parade around half naked.

I was about to say something when Ryuu and Yuta came charging out of the bath... in their bare scuddies!  They must have been maybe eleven or twelve, but it was still pretty shocking.  Brandon or Jennifer, my host mom's kids back in California, almost never run around nude.  I covered my mouth, and just stared at them, but they didn't seem embarrassed at all.

Anyway, Taka came out of the bath yelling at them to hurry up, and then he gestured for me to go into the bath.  There was a thin almost see-through white curtain in the doorway.  I tried to pull it shut, but it kind of fluttered open in the breeze.  Worse, I could still kind of see the four of them through the curtain.  I felt bad enough being the only girl there, but there was no way I was going to change in front of them too.  I decided to get changed in the bath.  It would be kind of weird to change in the shower, but at least it was further away from them.  I took off my socks, and opened the frosted glass door leading to the bath.  Once I'd re-closed the glass door, their voices sounded more muffled, and I felt a little bit safer.

Out the window, I could see the house across the way, and feel the cool breeze blowing in on my face.  I took a few deep breaths to calm down, and then decided to have a shower to clean up before I got ready.  I stripped out of my clothes, and then put them outside the door, so they wouldn't get wet.  While I was showering, Ryosuke came into the room next to the shower.

"I'm sorry, sweetie.  I guess I should have told you.  It's not like it'll be that weird or anything.  I've seen lots of women at the festivals before."

"Wearing a fundoshi?"

"Well, I guess most of them wear shorts, but sometimes.  You'd be surprised.  Just wait.  You'll see.  It won't be so bad."  Ryosuke went back out into the main room again closing the curtain behind him.  I finished my shower, and then suddenly realized I hadn't brought a towel.  I opened the glass door, and called out.

"Um, could I borrow a towel?"

"Sure," Taka yelled back.  I expected Ryosuke to bring it, but all of a sudden, Taka pushed open the curtain, and came in.  I felt all embarrassed - me standing there in the nude behind this frosted glass door, and Taka in his fundoshi.  I reached out to take the towel, but then I realized he could probably see my pubic hair through the glass.  I grabbed the towel, and wrapped it around me as quick as I could.  My heart was pounding away like anything.  I bowed to him, and he disappeared back outside, his backside almost as exposed as mine.

I squatted down, and tried to calm down as best I could, but I was getting that strange feeling again sort of like butterflies in my tummy or perhaps a bit lower.  I breathed in deep.  I quickly dried off, and grabbed the happi from outside the door.  There didn't seem to be any belt to go with it.  I had to take the two corners at the front, and tie them across my tummy to get the top to stay on.  You could see practically my whole chest.  I tried to cover up my breasts as best I could, but no matter what I did, you could still tell I wasn't wearing a bra.

The fundoshi was even harder to figure out.  The main part of it was a wide white belt made of a heavy material like burlap or something.  I got that wrapped around my waist, and twisted it around till the loincloth was at the front, but I couldn't figure out how to do up the strand that goes between your legs.  I pulled it through, and tried to tie it to the back of the belt, but I couldn't get it to stay.  Finally, Ryosuke called from the main room.

"Are you ready yet, Emi?"

"Um, no.  Um... could you come here for a second?"

"Wow!  You look sensational."

I just blushed at him meekly, holding the middle part at the back with my hand.

"I can't get this to tie up."

He motioned for me to turn around, and I did.  He got this huge grin on his face.

"You have the cutest little ass," he beamed giving me a playful pat.

"I'm serious, Ryosuke.  I can't get it done up."

"Oh, I see.  You're missing the rope part."  He turned to show me how his was done up.  I giggled when I saw his bottom.  His skin was so white, and the tan lines were way down his thighs.  He pointed to this thick white ceremonial rope tied in a loop around the back.  I didn't seem to have that part, so he went to look for it leaving the curtain wide open behind him.  I went over, and pulled it shut, feeling very naked.

Ryosuke came back with the rope, and helped me tie it together.  He ran his finger along the material between my legs pretending to straighten it, but I knew he was just trying to get me excited.  I swatted his hand to get him to stop, so he switched, and instead started pulling my belt up higher and higher until the material had worked its way up into the crack of my bottom and deep between my legs.  As I squirmed to break free, the material kept brushing against my 'hello kitty' getting me very, very excited.  I tried to push it back down, but Ryosuke insisted that this was the way it was supposed to be worn.  I turned around to look at my backside in the mirror, but he'd pushed the belt so high, it looked like I was naked.  I rubbed my buttocks cheeks feeling deeply embarrassed.

"I don't know, Ryosuke..."

"Here, let's ask Taka."  He pulled open the curtain, and they all looked straight at me.  "How does she look?"

Taka's eyes dropped from my wide-open cleavage to my virtually naked hips.  I felt like a stripper or something.  Finally, he looked back up at my face, and asked,

"Where's the headband?"

I suddenly remembered.  It must have been in the pile I left on the mat.  I turned around, and bent forward to pick it up, but when I turned back around, I realized the four of them had been staring straight at my bare behind.  The two boys were giggling away hysterically.  My face got all hot again, as I tied the headband on, and tried to pretend there was nothing strange about my walking around half naked like this.  At least it was only for one day.

Once we were all ready, we headed back downstairs.  I hadn't brought any zori (traditional sandals with the split toe), so I just put my sneakers back on.  I felt really self-conscious with my legs bare all the way up to my backside.  Once we were out on the street, I felt even worse because people would turn around to stare obviously shocked that such an innocent young girl as myself would be wearing such a scandalous outfit.  I kept looking over my shoulder to check that the back was still tied up.  My buttocks cheeks looked so round and white in the bright sun.  As if that weren't bad enough, every once in a while, Ryosuke would come over, and give me a pat on the behind just to remind how exposed I really was.

When we got to the shrine, I felt a bit better because there were a couple of other women there.  There was a group of elementary school girls wearing fundoshi and even a high school student or two, but it took me a long time to find an adult woman wearing one.  She was quite a bit older than me, and seemed to be on the staff of some local shop.  She was laughing and joking, and didn't seem too self-conscious.  Some of the girls in yukata though gave me an icy stare, as if I had a lot of nerve to dress this way.  It wasn't my idea, I wanted to tell them.

In the crowd, we finally found Ryosuke's dad and younger brother, Keisuke.  I bowed low to cover my embarrassment, but my top almost fell open at the front, and I had to grab it to cover up my dangling breasts.  As I bowed, I could feel people staring at my behind.  I felt humiliated, but there was nothing I could do about it.  My clothes were all back at Taka's place.

This was the first time I'd met Keisuke.  He was dressed the same way as us, but didn't seem too bothered by it.  He gave me this goofy grin as he stared at my body.  Just like his brother I thought.  His mom was chattering away about how wonderful it was of me to come out, and help, as if she saw nothing wrong with the way I was dressed.  Ryosuke's dad's eyes were focused on my crotch.  I wondered if my pubic hair was showing.  I just smiled politely, but I could feel my ears getting all hot from the embarrassment.

I didn't feel comfortable standing there with this whole group of men all staring at me, so I went looking for some other women.  I found Ryosuke's mom, and gave her my cell phone and wallet to hold onto.  Unfortunately, she saw someone she knew, and excused herself, so I was left on my own again.

It was then that I noticed one of the high school girls, dressed in a fundoshi, keeping her back to this signboard standing next to this group of guys.  I could tell from the embarrassed way she was pursing her lips that she was probably trying to hide her backside from all these guys.  I lined up next to her putting my back to the signboard too.

"Hi," I said.  She looked at me for a sec, but then looked down, and blushed.  "Quite a festival," I went on trying to be friendly.  She nodded shyly without saying anything.  She squatted down, looking at her hands anxiously, so I squatted down next to her.

"Is this your first festival?"

She shook her head no, obviously really nervous.  I gestured toward the group of guys standing near us.

"Are those your friends?"

She pointed towards the leader of the mikoshi-bearers.

"That's my dad."

"Oh," I said, finally understanding how she'd gotten talked into this.

"Do you know Keisuke?" she asked suddenly.

"Uh, yeah," I answered, surprised a bit.  "How do you...?"

"He's in my class at school."

"No kidding," I nodded looking over at him.  "What's he like?"  I wondered if he was anything like Ryosuke.

"I don't know.  He's smart I guess.  I don't really know him that well.  Where do you know him from?"

"Actually, I don't really know him either.  I'm friends with his brother, Ryosuke."

"Is Ryosuke your boyfriend?"

I laughed.  Pretty smart girl.

"Yeah, he is."  I smiled at her.  "My name's Emi."

"I'm Miori.  Nice to meet you," she bowed her head politely.

"I have a question."

She tilted her head curiously, and looked at me.

"How do you do these things up?" I asked pointing to the back of my fundoshi.  Mine felt loose, and I was wondering if Ryosuke had done it up right.

"I'm not sure.  My dad helped me."

"Your dad?" I said, shocked a bit.  Miori stood up, and showed me the back of hers.  Her belt was really high too, and her round little rear was so white it looked like it had never seen the light of day before.  Before I could ask her more, Ryosuke came over.

"Who's this?"

"This is Miori.  She's the daughter of the leader."

"No kidding.  Old man Tanaka's daughter.  I haven't seen you since you were knee high to a grasshopper."

Miori lowered her head, and stared up through her bangs at him.  She had a very intense gaze, and it sounded like she was breathing pretty heavily, even more nervous now that Ryosuke was there.  She tilted her hips this way and that, and I suddenly noticed that there was a little slit in her fundoshi where her pussy must be.  I wondered immediately if she wasn't getting turned on parading around half naked like this.  Mr. Tanaka, her father, started to call people to gather around, so I didn't have time to talk to her anymore.  I said,

"See you later," and went back with Ryosuke to our group.

Before we could carry the mikoshi, we all had to be purified.  Some of the shrine attendants came out with hoses, and they asked us to stay still while they sprayed us.  It was really hot out, so I didn't mind the cool water, but a lot of people gathered around us, and were taking pictures.  My happi was white, and after getting oaked in all the water, it started sticking to my breasts.  I quickly tried to peel it away, but that probably just made it easier to see my breasts.  All the guys around me were so pumped up too, hooting and hollering to get themselves up for carrying the omikoshi.  They were all staring at me, and I was feeling this weird mix of acute embarrassment and mounting excitement.

Once we were all purified, Mr. Tanaka showed us how to pick up the mikoshi, and carry it on our shoulders.  Taka, who was in front of me, and Ryosuke behind are pretty tall, so I didn't really have to do much carrying.  Once everyone was all organized, we headed out.  Once we got going, it became obvious that they didn't really need my help, so after a while, I found Miori again, and we just sort of walked along behind the procession.  There were some drummers and other musicians, and all the guys were grunting and bouncing the mikoshi up and down and cheering.  More and more people started to gather, and once we turned on to this big main street, there was a huge crowd waiting for us.  I felt really nervous about my outfit, but it was kind of exciting to be right in the middle of it all.

We finally made it to the otabisho, and they set down the omikoshi, and started doing the entertainment.  I felt thirsty, so Miori and I went off to find something to drink.  I felt really weird walking through the crowd in that outfit especially with everyone staring at us.  We finally found a convenience store, and went in, but there were these three university age guys who came in right behind us.  One of them had a camera, and apparently they'd been taking pictures of Miori and I.

"Hey there, pretty ladies.  Buy you a drink?"

Miori and I tried to just ignore them, but they came up right next to us.

"Those are quite some outfits."

I nodded, but we got our drinks, and made for the counter.  The guys kept following us, but eventually, we made it back to where Ryosuke and Taka were, and so the other guys left us alone.  Just as the entertainment ended, and we were about to start carrying the mikoshi back, I noticed that my fundoshi was coming loose.  I pulled Miori off to the side, and we tried to hide from the crowd, so she could help me do it back up.  She did a much better job tying it than Ryosuke, but still left the belt awfully high.  You could see my rear end all the way up my lower back.  Once I was sure it was tight, we walked back to the crowd.

On the trip back, Miori spotted the photographer guys again.  Someone had sprayed some more water on us, so we both looked pretty indecent.  We ran to find Ryosuke, and he made space for us to go in front of him to hide.  He looked down smiling at Miori's cute little behind, but I swatted him to get him to behave.

The procession slowly turned, and made its way out of the busy intersection, but I could still see the photographers trying to keep up, and get another shot of us.  Miori looked pretty worried, so she went to find her dad.  It seemed to take forever for the procession to move forward, but eventually we started heading back towards the shrine.  I wasn't sure where the photographers had gone.  Perhaps they were still chasing after poor Miori.  I got out from under the omikoshi, and just walked alongside for a while.  A lot of people were staring at my bottom, but I was getting more used to it by then.  Some of the guys carrying the mikoshi had taken off their happi, and were shouting and dancing all around almost naked.  This one guy came up to me, and was beating his chest.  I was a little surprised, but I just smiled shyly, and then he ran off somewhere else.  It was a lot of fun.

When we finally got back to the shrine, Miori invited Ryosuke and I to come into the shrine for something to eat.  I got my stuff from Ryosuke's mom, stuffed it in the front of my happi, and then we said goodbye to Keisuke and all of them.  I wondered if Miori wanted to talk to Keisuke, but anyway, she went off to get changed, so she missed saying goodbye.  I wanted to get changed too, but my clothes were all still back at Taka's.

We went into the shrine, and a lot of the men had changed into more regular clothes too.  Everyone was very polite, but a lot of the guys were kind of staring at my legs, or trying to get a glimpse of my behind as I walked by.  I felt even more out of place because Miori was now dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.  Eventually, she had to go home, so we said goodbye, and I promised to call her.  Ryosuke and I had some yakitori and bacon asparagus, but I didn't really feel comfortable among all these strangers dressed the way I was.  We tried to find Taka, but he was apparently driving his cousins home.  Ryosuke and I quietly slipped out the back to the shrine's garden.  There was a pond with a bridge over it and a stone path around the edge lit by lanterns.  We walked down to the far end, away from the murmur of the party, stood in the shade of the trees, and looked up at the stars.  It was a beautiful night out, warm but with a refreshing breeze blowing.

"So how'd you like it?"

"Mmm, yeah, it was a lot of fun."

"You survived all right in your fundoshi."

I looked down at it, and laughed nervously, still a bit embarrassed.

"Did Miori show you how to tie it up?"

"Yeah, kind of."

He went behind me, and kneeled down, and I could feel him playing with the knot at the back.

"Ryosuke!" I whispered sharply, but he'd already got the knot undone.  A shiver ran up my spine as I felt the middle part slipping down away from my privates exposing them to the night air.  "Ryosuke!"

He was already unraveling the fundoshi belt.  I tried to pull away, but I could already feel it coming undone.  I grabbed it, holding it in front of my pubic hair, which was standing on end from the excitement, but he started pulling on the fundoshi, down really hard, and I lost my grip.  Almost before I knew it, I was naked from the waist down.  I covered my pubic hair with my hand, and turned to get my fundoshi back, but all the sexual tension of the day had lifted me up so high I couldn't really resist.  I spread my legs apart, and put my hands on my hips, but the feeling of the breeze between my legs was almost more than I could take.  Ryosuke slipped a finger between my legs, and started playing with my pleasure lever.

"Here stop it.  They'll see."

"No one's out here."  He held my hand to reassure me, but I kept staring straight at the back of the shrine just on the other side of the pond.  We were kind of hidden in the shade of the trees, but further over there were lanterns lighting up the garden.  I could hear the sound of beating drums and laughter in the distance, so I motioned for Ryosuke to stop, but he must have been too excited to stop.  He pulled his own fundoshi down exposing his stiff member.

I kneeled down in front of him, shaking and trying to hide as best I could.  I wrapped my lips around him, and holding him steady with my other hand, ran my lips along his length and then back again.  I was trying to concentrate on him, but I think with my free hand, I must have been touching myself.  I've gotten a lot better at pleasuring him lately, and soon he was twitching and gyrating his hips, and I could tell he was going to come soon.  We suddenly heard this bang coming from the street, and that must have pushed him over the edge.  He exploded just as I pulled away.  I kind of got a bit messy, especially on my face, so I rushed over to the pond to wash off, and put my fundoshi back on before someone came out.

I could barely stop trembling from the embarrassment of what we'd just done.  Taka finally showed up, and drove us back to his place.  I had a shower, and tried to settle back down, but to tell you the truth, I wanted to make love.  That was just before our hot spring trip, so that might have been another reason I was so worked up that whole trip.

Anyway, that's it for now I guess.  I'll try to write again soon.  Till then, take care,

Emi Tsuruta
My web site:
http://www.asstr.org/~emitsuruta
