Furumachi Donden takes place every spring and autumn in Furumachi, in the heart of Niigata City. Each event is packed with food stalls offering Niigata's specialities, stage events and much more. This year's autumn event will be held on 11 and 12 October. I went on 12 (Sun), in splendid autumn weather.

It was just around noon when we arrived. When we got off the bus, there were several times more people than usual. After this, the traffic was as heavy as at a certain scramble crossing in Tokyo... [Laughs.

This time, as it was autumn, events related to Halloween were held. And the live performances of RYUTist and Negicco were the most noteworthy of all! I definitely have to see this.

It is held from Furumachi 5 to 9. Food stalls line the streets. At first, I just wandered around and walked to 9-bancho.

Cream puffs are on sale in front of Osaka-ya. I bought a lot of them as souvenirs.

Oh? There's some kind of huge crowd.

I see, so it was the 'RYUTist' show after all. Still, it was a huge turnout..!

It's a lively crowd - a whole corner of 7th Avenue was packed with people (my scouter, which has worked part-time as a traffic surveyor, measured roughly 200 people).

Great weather.

Mikazuki, famous for its Niigata soul food 'Italian', is also opening a stall. It is a busy place.

The Torikan stall in Gosen. The queues have become a regular sight. There were about three times as many people queuing as in this picture. I want to see the others, so I'll come back later...

This is the booth of the Okuaga Mushroom Promotion Association. There were many tasty ingredients to taste on the spot as well as souvenirs and for cooking at home.

There was also a children's drawing area.

'Fairytale Dreams' section. There were very many families in this area.

Bartenders' Association booth. They will make you an original drink on the spot. I had one of their special drinks and it was the best..! The weather was fine, so it was a great day for eating and drinking.

Towards the 9th district, stalls selling accessories, toys and knick-knacks were lined up.

There were signs in each town announcing the events in this way, but there were so many more events than I had expected that I couldn't get round them all (laughs)!

Before the Negicco show, we went to Torikan to replenish our energy levels. But..! They almost sold out. Oh no, oh no, oh no... If you are looking for it, we recommend that you get it as soon as possible.

Now it's time to go to the 'Negicco' stage event.

In the meantime, it was time for the 'Negicco' show to start. I hurry back to the 7-bancho stage. Wow... already a huge crowd!

Already there were loud cheers.

When I turned towards the direction of the loudest cheers, whoosh...! The penlights are blurred due to the intense movement... lol.

It's bad... I can't see at all (laughs)! It was so packed with people that it was hard to even get close. And there were tremendous cheers from the audience. The enthusiasm was tremendous. It was impressive to hear Negicco's members repeatedly say "Furumachi is our home". With words of gratitude. Yes, the girls have spread their wings from Furumachi. I was moved by their full effort on stage, sharing their enthusiasm with the passionate audience at their "home".

I had attended Furumachi Domen on a number of occasions, but this time I felt the turnout was particularly large, with events associated with 'Halloween' and a full range of live stage performances. There is a sense that the event is getting more powerful every year. The next Furumachi Densen will take place in May 2015. We look forward to waiting to see what next year's event will be like.

bonus

In fact, as you can see in the photo above, there was a person who appeared several times in Niigata Repo, who appeared to be a masked rider, who came to watch the live performance. As you can see in the photo, it was impressive that he was watching the show discreetly and warmly from the back. How cool...

Events

as fast as the old town can go

• Organisers / Furumachi Domen Executive Committee (Furumachi 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, Niigata Mitsukoshi, Nishibori Rosa, Niigata Nippo)
• Website: http://www.niigata-furumachi.jp/event/dondon/