Japan from the inside

This past weekend I got a somewhat rare opportunity to take part in Japanese tradition thousands of years old. The town I live in was having their yearly 'Mikoshi Parade' and for the first time they invited gaijin, or foreign residents, to take part.
As an aside, when I first arrived in Japan I thought gaijin was an insult, much like 'gringo' in Central America is used to talk down upon stupid white folk. But I was wrong (it sounds kind of the same... well at least they both start with 'g'). In fact I am now an official card-carrying gaijin! It's got my picture on it and everything! Sadly the only thing I recognize on the card is my face and my name! I can't even read my address because it's all written in Kanji.
Right, back to the story. So I got to take part in this Mikoshi Parade.
The Mikoshi is essentially a semi-portable shrine. I say 'semi' portable because this thing weighs about 1700 kg. And the 'parade' consists of about 40-50 men carrying this thing a couple of kilometers on their shoulders!
I'm still waiting for pics from some friends here since I didn't get my camera until just after this thing.
Carrying this thing actually ended up being waaaaay harder than I would have expected. I guess I assumed since there were so many of us carrying it, the load assigned to each person wouldn't be too bad.
I don't know if the 10 kids that got to ride inside were the fattest in Japan or what, but this thing was f*#kin heavy.
I'm sure it doesn't help that I am a good 15cm taller than the tallest Japanese guy there, and that my scrawny shoulders aren't a very good cushion for this multi-tonne shrine full of chubsters. So I was hurting for a couple days afterwards.
First tenderness, then bruising then muscle stiffness. The best was when you looked really closely you could see all these broken blood vessels just under the skin.

Taking part in this festival was really cool. It's interesting to see what a big role drinking plays in Japanese culture. The Mikoshi event started at 9am.
I was the first gaijin to arrive and as the festival organizer was introducing himself he handed me a beer! I took it reluctantly (well maybe not that reluctantly - I mean come on it's FREE bEEr!), but it did strike me as odd that all these men were drinking prior to hoisting this ridiculously heavy wooden shrine over their heads.
The parade zigged and zagged through the neighbourhood where most of these people live and then ended at this temple.
The best part was that we stopped every 10 minutes and they handed out drinks and snacks for everyone before we headed on. Actually the chanting may have been the best part! The kids in the Mikoshi keep a beat going on a drum and everyone marches and chants along in time. Helps keep your mind off the pain too!
I was blown away with the day though. Everyone was so welcoming. Even the city mayor sat down with the handfull of foreigners that were participating and had lunch with us. And then after all the festivities, this random lady invited us all to her traditional-style Japanese house for some tea and more food!
It was an awesome day. That evening I went to a gyoza party too! I'm not very good at making it, but I'm learning so maybe when i come back I'll have a little gyoza party of my own and wow you with my dumpling making ability.
I'm coming to really appreciate the fine line Japan walks between tradition and progress. I feel like here they have much more emphasis on these cultural festivals or buildings that have been around for centuries. And yet somehow so many things seem extremely modernized and advanced. It seems like a contradiction at first, but some how they figured out how to be both at the same time - definitely makes for an interesting experience.