Sinulog and snow in Japan

Days before and even on the day of the 4th Sinulog Festival at Joso in Japan, the rains continued. Yet, so many knew and believed that, without fail, our Sto. Niño would bring the sun back for His celebration.

True enough, soon after the 1pm Mass celebrated by Fr. Andrew Healey of the Tsukuba Catholic Church and attended by more than 500 Filipinos and guests, the rains stopped as the crowd started their procession and dance and shouted Pit Senyor from their hearts!

Like every Filipino fiesta, there was worship and music as well. There were the dances and the raffle, and of course, the Filipino dishes for all!

“ Saya no,” remarked Sr. Flor Florece who coordinated the earlier Sinulog Festivals in Joso. “ Isulat mo uli, ha?” she reminded me.

With all the busy preparations for this year’s Sinulog, Sr. Rose Remigio must have been so tired after, together with Sr. Consola of Brazil, Sr. Teresa Ikasaki of Japan and the rest of the Joso Church community. Yet, they must also have been so happy to see the smiling faces of those who joined the festive affair.

The worshippers brought their own Sto. Niño statue to be blessed. And there were so many versions of the Sto. Nino! Wishing their own statues to be blessed as well on this important occasion, there were even those who brought their Christ the King Statue and that of our Mother of Perpetual Help!!!

The mix of the sacred with the secular was palpable as well in Joso just like back in the Philippines. There were those who came for the fiesta, there were those who came to celebrate and worship the Sto. Niño, there were those who came for both reasons, the feast and the fiesta.

For sure, that Sunday afternoon, there were many participants from Cebu who remembered their Sinulog days in the past with their families and loved ones.

Filipino scholar and physicist Val Innis Samson, after seeing the video and photos of their Sinulog dance presentation, could not help but be nostalgic as she remembered how their mother used to bring them to Cebu to see the “higantes” during the Sinulog. Like her mother did in the past, Val brought her husband and son to join the Sinulog this year.

After the Sunday afternoon celebration, not only did the rains return.By Monday evening, the rains turned to snow and covered many portions of Ibaraki and Tokyo through the night!

Early Tuesday morning, it was a lovely sight to see the snow on the trees, on the ground, in many streets and places.

Children were instructed to go to school at 10 instead of the usual 8:30 start. It was beautiful to hear their joyful laughter as the tiny ones played with the snow.There were also those who could not help but step on and crush the frozen snow along their way.

While the children happily played with the snow, the adults had to be careful driving through the slippery snow. The bikers took longer time to reach their destination because of the snow.

Snow is beautiful to see, to play with but not to reckon with while driving and walking!Keeping the snow out of the roads and streets to make these safer for all is not an easy job as well.

Still, snow is snow, lovely to see, especially with the sun and the blue skies out, especially after rainy or dark cloudy days!

The snow on the fields may take more time to melt than those out in the road, allowing snow lovers more time to enjoy and relish the beauty of what looks like white icing spread out over plants and soil.

There is no more snow forecast for this week here in our part of Japan. However, we are told to expect very low, cold temperatures as winter is moving on to give way to spring sometime in March. That will mean more days and weeks to bear the cold and possibly, another round of snow again?

Whatever the weather, whether the rains come or the snow, whether the sun smiles or the dark clouds take over, what does not change are God’s beautiful creations and His great love for us through His son, Jesus Christ. And we continue our Pit Senyor to our God who continues to protect us all wherever we are throughout the world.

* * *

Email: [email protected]