Gakusei Travels

アフリカとジャマイカ文化の祭り！

As part of my research for my thesis, I planned to do some ethnography. Two years ago, I wrote about an African Culture and Jamaican Culture festival I attended while studying abroad. I had a lot of fun last time and I figured it would be good information to supplement with my other research for my paper. I think it’s an annual festival, so I booked my trip around the dates of the festival which ironically, was most two years to the date from the last time I went.

I arrived this time at 10, which was when it was supposed to start. When I got there, they were still somewhat setting up, but they already had the grills going. Much like last time I went, most of the stalls were actually run by Japanese people. On the Jamaican side, there were at least five different stalls that sold jerk chicken, so I just picked one at random to get lunch from, and it was pretty good. I did walk around a bit to take some pictures and initial notes about what I saw when this guy waved me over to his stall. He was selling drinks and convinced me to buy the bigger size, because for double the price I got thrice the amount to drink. Seemed like a fair deal to me haha.

Interestingly, while I was there, there was this Japanese guy doing this woman’s hair. I paused because the woman was black or maybe mixed. I won’t say for sure. I asked him what was he doing to her hair, and he told me he was going to cornrow it. Fascinated, I asked if it was okay to watch and take pictures, which both he and the woman said it was okay. When I say he made some of the cleanest cornrows! I was so thoroughly impressed. He parted her hair properly and took great care with styling it. I was truly amazed.

Then, I realized there was a whole stall here that was doing hair. There were about four or five braiders, all Japanese. They actually have a physical shop in Yokohama. But I literally spent most of the day hanging around their shop watching them braid hair. And so many Japanese girls, from young to old were so excited to get their hair braided. Even a few guys. They would even get hair jewelry and pieces in their braids, so they got the full experience. It honestly just made me so happy. Like in a feel good kind of way. I talked briefly with one of the branders and she said she’s been doing hair for five years now. The fact that they all learned the proper techniques and how to cornrow hair was such a touching sentiment to me. It really just showed that the Japanese truly do like black culture and when they like something, they really go all out with it.

While I was there, I ended up meeting a black guy from Miami who currently lives in Japan. He came to the festival due to his Jamaican heritage, and he was cool to talk with. He was also pretty amazed with the whole festival, especially because he didn’t realize that something like this was going on. He actually also had locs like me, and this random Japanese guy asked if he could take a picture with the both of us. Of course we said yes because why not? We were all just vibing, enjoying the music and the food. It was a good time.

At the same shop, the guy I met actually ended up getting his locs twisted by one of the stylists. She actually knew how to do locs in addition to braids. She styled his hair in barrel rolls, and again, I was so amazed. And the stall was so popular that literally, on the second day, they had a line of at least twenty people wanting to get their hair braided. I honestly hope their shop continues to do well!

On the African side, things were a little more chill. The African festival seemed to have more clothing stores than food stalls. At these shops, they sold a lot of traditional clothing, like dresses and headscarves, bags, jewelry. A lot of the Japanese women were walking around in colorfully patterned dresses with their hair tied up in wraps. Some of their outfits were honestly super cute. There was even a stand to learn how to make beaded bracelets which was cool. Unlike the last time I went, I was a little sad that there wasn’t a henna stand. I would have loved to get another henna tattoo.

As for food stalls, there were a few. Like there was one for Senegal and Ghana. But honestly, it mostly consisted of Japanese food trucks like takoyaki and shaved ice. I do love かき氷 and definitely bought some. Of course, the stall owners were so surprised I could speak Japanese well haha. There was also an earthquake simulation truck from the fire department, but I was lowkey too scared to try it lol. On the second day, there was even a bounce house for kids.

I think one of the most marvelous things, however, was watching the musicians perform. Music is one of the things I always say transcends both language and cultures, and it was beautiful to see African music being played by both black and Japanese performers.

Even on the Jamaican festival side people were vibing to music the DJ was playing, including Sexy Girl by Snow, Here Comes the Heart Stopper by Ini Kamoze, and I Was Born a Winner by Freddie McGregor. Then on the African festival side, there was a whole other mini concert going on. It was just a mix of reggae and R&b and everyone was having a great time!

On the first day, it was actually raining all throughout the day. And at one point, it just started to torrential downpour. But that truly didn’t stop people from coming. I definitely think that on the second day, there was more people because it was just overcast but no rain. That second day, there were so many people that people had started setting out picnic blankets because there was no where to sit. I managed to cop a spot on a bench and I didn’t want to move, because I knew I’d lose my seat. I just really sat and observed my surroundings the whole time. However, it was honestly just good vibes and good food, and the turnout was high for the whole weekend.

I definitely would come back again and I do hope I can one day. I learned so much honestly from attending the festivals, and it made me so happy to see how different types of black culture were embraced by the locals.