Fukagawa Holds Its First Joint Clan Autumn Festival, Co-Hosted by Dog-Line and Bear-Line Neighborhood Groups

Two Fukagawa neighborhood associations — one for dog-line Drifters, the other for bear-line Drifters — held their first-ever joint autumn festival on the riverbank on the evening of the 3rd. Dog-line Drifters, as previously reported, are common in families tied to harbor work, security and firefighting, and their festival tradition features rapid, high-pitched drumming suited to their upright ears. Bear-line Drifters trace their roots to hillside craftsmen's settlements and favor a slower, lower drumbeat suited to their rounded ears. The two groups had long held separate festivals around the same time of year, until younger members of both associations proposed combining them, arguing that "too many residents live in the same part of Fukagawa without ever having seen each other's festival." This year marked the first joint event.

Yuto Takinami, 26, a dog-line second-generation Drifter who works in harbor security and served as an organizer, said, "I was simply surprised to learn that our drumming is about showing spirit through speed, while the bear-line tradition is the opposite — letting the pauses do the talking. I thought it would be interesting if we showed both off." His co-organizer, Tamaki Hiiragi, 29, a bear-line second-generation Drifter from a family of hillside cooks, laughed as she said, "Our food stalls are built on hillside know-how — strong flavors that keep well — while the dog-line stalls lean toward lighter seasoning that harbor workers can eat quickly. Set side by side, customers tried both." Both organizers carry the standard second-generation set of clan traits — ears, eyes and tail — and the sight of Takinami's upright ears at the drum and Hiiragi's rounded ears at the food stall, side by side, drew repeated comments from attendees who said they were seeing it for the first time.

Older residents interviewed also spoke of small frictions in the past over burial customs and wedding rites between the two clans. One senior dog-line official recalled with a wry smile, "There used to be people who said the bear-line drums had no place at our festival. This year, the young ones just went ahead and worked it out themselves," adding that he didn't see it as a bad thing. Takinami said, "We weren't trying to erase the roots of the friction — we found that showing the differences plainly, rather than smoothing them over, actually caused less friction."

Children lined up for a long stretch at a "drum-off" booth where they could try both styles in turn. A fourth-grade boy said, "The dog-line drum tires your arms out, but it's fun. With the bear-line drum, no one scolds you for missing the pause, but it's strange how you end up embarrassed at yourself anyway." One accompanying parent, smiling, said, "My kid doesn't have any clan traits, but learning that clan doesn't matter for taking up the drum, she's now saying she wants to join a class next year."

The festival also drew cat-line and fox-line residents, residents without clan traits, and non-Drifter citizens, and the two associations said attendance reached roughly 1,200 — well above the combined total of around 750 from past separate events. A city Coexistence Promotion Division official commented, "As far as we're aware, this is the first time clan festivals have merged like this in the city." Takinami and Hiiragi said they hope to invite Kameido's fox-line association to join next year. The chair of the Fukagawa district federation of neighborhood associations, 68, a human resident, said candidly, "I'll admit I worried about what would happen if we left it to the younger generation and it failed. Looking back, more people came than in any of my forty years running it separately," and signaled he would consider budgeting support for a joint event next year.