Another view of the women setting up the picnic. Look at how many bags they have. It looks like it was going to be a really big group - probably a bonenkai (forget the year party) or a shinnenkai (welcome the new year party) for some people connected through a group of some kind. I did not go back later to see how many people showed up.
Nearby I found this sign. It says that the river is fun but ... It then says to go home when there are really dark clouds and it starts raining or if there there is lot of stuff floating in the river.
A few meters away there is another sign that shows the length of the river, Nanakitagawa. The text in the upper right tells why the river has a second name, Kanmurigawa. Kanmuri means crown and many years ago a prince was crossing the river and lost his crown in the water, so the river was named for the event. The writing across the top of the sign urges people to keep the river clean.
Here is part of what the sign was referring to when it asks people to keep the river clean. This are the remains of an imonikai (potato boiling party), a popular fall and early windter activity. A group of people will come to the riverside and start a fire which they use to boil water to cook potatoes. After the party, the place is usually a mess. This area is completely black with ashes and soot. It looked like some place that Santa might have visited, but without a chimney.
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