Three-Lineage Autumn Festival Committee to Hold First Meeting on November 14, Will Seek Public Suggestions for the Act's Name

Four days after the previously reported (the 22nd) joint drum practice in which the dog-, fox-, and bear-lineage residents' associations played together for the first time, the three association chairs — Koji Inui, 56, Jo Saotome, 54, and Toru Maruwa, 58, all previously reported — held a press conference on the 26th at a community hall in Fukagawa and announced that the joint executive committee for next year's provisionally named "Three-Lineage Autumn Festival" will hold its first meeting on November 14. Decisions on the venue and the specific date are expected to follow that first meeting.

■ The Act Has a Shape, But Still No Name

At the joint practice on the 22nd, the act took shape as a three-part sequence: the dog lineage's "aligning," the fox lineage's "calling," and the bear lineage's "settling." Inui revealed, "We've got the shape down, but we've been rehearsing without a name this whole time. We started wondering whether it's really fine to keep calling it 'that thing' or 'that drum part.'" The three chairs announced on the 26th that they will solicit name suggestions from residents. Saotome said, "Ideally the name would carry a hint of each lineage's own way of speaking, but in the end, it should be decided by the residents who'll actually watch the festival next year."

■ "Standing Side by Side, Still Different" Becomes the Watchword

As previously reported on the 19th, the dog lineage is said to be common among port and firefighting families, the fox lineage among merchant families, and the bear lineage among woodworking-craftsman families, each with its own dialect, festival customs, grave-making traditions, and cuisine. Maruwa said, "Landing on a drumbeat that holds back and settles things, fitting for a craftsman's lineage, matters a great deal. That settling only works because of the dog lineage's aligning drum and the fox lineage's calling drum." The three chairs reaffirmed, as previously reported, their shared approach that it's more compelling to stand side by side while staying different than to hide those differences behind a single unified look.

■ The Committee Will Also Discuss How to Run the Public Call for Names

At the November 14 meeting, the main items are expected to be the procedure for the public name suggestions, concrete proposals for venue and date, and next year's operating structure. Saotome said, "Stalls and festival-night booths have mostly been run by fox-lineage people, but next year I'd like all three lineages to share the running of it." Inui added, "I want this to be a festival that belongs to all three lineages, not just the drumming."

■ New Faces at the Practice Hall

As previously reported on the 19th, off-duty firefighters and port workers have been rotating through practice at the dog-lineage hall, but since the 26th's announcement, both the fox- and bear-lineage associations say requests to come watch have been piling up. Saotome said, "More young people have been stopping by to peek at the drums between shifts prepping the stalls. Just knowing we might get to name the act ourselves has changed the mood at practice." Maruwa added, "Fellow woodworkers have told me a mallet's timing and a drum's timing aren't so different, and more of them have been asking to join practice while they watch."

■ How Residents See It

A woman in her seventies living in Fukagawa, who came to watch the practice, said, "I only got to hear a little of the part where the three drums overlap. Even without anyone explaining it in words, I think you can tell when that overlap happens." A shopkeeper in his thirties in Kameido said, "I'm used to seeing the fox-lineage festival stalls, but I'm looking forward to the dog- and bear-lineage food standing alongside them next year." The venue, date, and name of the act will all remain to be worked out from November onward.