Sanma Matsuri

Another festival this weekend, but this time I am off to Meguro for the Sanma Matsuri. Sanma is a type of fish, a bit like a herring and is in season this time of the year. Basically the festival is a celebration of this tasty fish, with 20,000 of them being given away. But why in Meguro, I hear you ask. Well the story goes that once there was a Diamyo Lord, who really loved Sanma, but none of his servant's could cook them to his liking and this annoyed him greatly. Then one day while travelling through Meguro he came across a stall barbecuing Sanma. The smell was prefect. He tasted one. It was excellent so he proclaimed that if you want to eat truly delicious Sanma you should do so in Meguro. That's why Meguro is the place for Sanma and why I am here too.
Unfortunately, I am not the only one here for my free Sanma. The rest of Tokyo seems to be here too. Even though the fish are cooked in batches of 200 the queue stretches for miles with a queuing line of up to three hours. However, I am not going to give up. You may, as my friend pointed out, be able to buy Sanma in the supermarket for just a pound, but that’s not the point, queuing is supposed to be part of the fun and make that Sanma taste even better in the end.
And I have to admit, after two hours my excitement and trepidation were at unheard of levels as we neared the cooking area and ominously dark rain clouds drifted overhead. It looked like we were in for a soaking. We had no umbrella so it might have ended up as a choice between wasting two hours with no reward or enjoying the fabled fish, but getting drenched to the skin. Luckily we made it and had just enough time to gobble down our fantastic Sanma before the heavens opened. And boy did they taste good.
Others weren't so luckily, many in the queue behind us were rewarded with only a cold shower after a two-hour plus wait. Many held their place in the queue as the rain bucketed down, only to give up later when the rain got just too intense. Off they plodded like drowned rats. Poor hungry souls.