I made the annual trip to Mikame, the town where I worked as a JET from 1997-2000. August 13 is the Mikame Summer Festival, and the highlight is the Pig Rodeo. The winner gets 50,000 yen (about 600AUD) and the glory that comes with being crowned Pigrider. Mikame seems to be feeling a budgetary crunch (perhaps something to do with the recent amalgamation, along with four other towns, into Seiyo "city") because instead of a separate prize for men and women there was only one prize this year.
Hundreds of people lined up to compete but in fairness to the pigs, who would much rather sleep and wallow in mud than suffer the indignity of sweaty humans clambering on their backs, the riders were limited to twenty guys and twenty girls, selected by ballot. The pigs were herded into a narrow corral. The riders donned helmets and kneepads and mounted their porcine steeds. The gate opened, the pigs shot out with the kind of speed not normally associated with large pink animals, turned and deposited their riders on the ground. Most rides lasted less than two seconds. One rider had a pig with limited stamina (there were only six pigs so they had to be recycled) The animal ran out the gate and just stopped. The pig marshalls called time after two minutes of inaction and the rider smiled with the knowledge that victory was his. Or at least it would have been had not the same thing happened three more times, necessitating a final. Fresh pigs saw a fast fall for the finalists and the winner was a guy from Osaka who stayed on for four seconds. The guy who came second was not happy that his pig had thrown him after only three seconds and punched the noble beast, which was not only unfair (after all, the pig was doing its job) but embarassing, as the fellow was a local boy and a former student of mine.
Listen mofo, I won that pig rodeo fair and square.
love, Chris.
Posted by: Chris Potter | September 14, 2007 at 10:38 AM