GALLERY: Passion takes first prize at Asakusa Samba Carnival 2017

Saturday saw the 36th edition of the annual Asakusa Samba Carnival once again bring the passion and heat to what, on the day, were some already sweaty streets around Tokyo’s Asakusa district, as thousands of spectators craned for the best views.

18 "teams" from across Japan took to Tokyo’s version of Rio de Janeiro’s Sambódromo, Kaminarimon-Dori, to strut, swagger, samber and camp it up in their best efforts to claim the parade contest title as decided by a panel of judges lying in wait at the latter stages of the course. 2017 saw hometown favorites and carnival stalwarts G.R.E.S BARBAROS (aka Nakamise Barbarians) take out the first prize as well as the Alegoria prize for the “best float” with their samba infused take of what looked to this spectator like burlesque (dancers even stopped mid procession to straddle some chairs).

Without wanting to revert to cliché, however (but we’re going to), everyone’s a winner at the Asakusa Samba Carnival, an event in such bold contrast to almost everything Japanese that even in the stifling heat it’s hard not to be charmed. At a time of year when, for many in Japan, festivals take on the form of the slow considered amble of a bon odori, Asakusa Samba Carnival injects a healthy dose of madness, passion, sex, sweat and jarring flamboyance. And any doubts that the locals might struggle to get on board with all the flesh on show must have been firmly put to bed by spectator numbers which regularly reach around 500,000 (not to mention all the leering lenses).

The popularity of the carnival perhaps also reflects the scale of the exchange of peoples between Brazil and Japan, an exchange that is a curious one, in cultural terms and in geographical terms. The two nations are quite literally a world apart but somehow combine to great effect on the streets of old downtown Tokyo - Brazilian passion meets Japanese organization? It’s equally curious that the sentiment of wanting to get away should result in something which so emphatically brings people together in wild celebration.

To think like this though, is to miss the point - for the Asakusa Samba Carnival is surely the opposite of “thought”, in the battle of reason versus passion, where the former suggests Japan is an unlikely stage for an event like this, the latter wins out in style. Something we should all be thankful for.

Gallery: 36th Asakusa Samba Carnival (浅草サンバカーニバル) 2017