Even now, 11 years after we left Tokyo, I can recall with particular clarity the sound of an unseen temple bell tolling in our neighborhood on the Festival of the Dead, the sight of a gangster's knee-to-elbow tattoos at an outdoor hot spring and the drunken spectacle at a very old cemetery, where bands of happy people danced among the tombstones at a cherry blossom viewing party.
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The major festivals of the Iban people are Gawai Bumai ( Rice Farming Festival ) that includes at least four stages i . e . Gawai Batu ( Whetstone Festival ), Gawai Benih ( Seed Festival ), Gawai Ngemali Umai / Jagok ( Farm-Healing Festival ), Gawai Matah ( Harvest-Starting Festival ) and Gawai Basimpan ( Paddy Safekeeping Festival ), Gawai Tuah ( Fortune Festival ) that comprises Gawai Namaka Tuah ( Fortune-Welcoming Festival ), Gawai Tajau ( Jar Festival ) and Gawai Pangkong Tiang ( House Post Banging Festival ), Gawai Sakit ( Healing Festival ) including Pelian by a manang shaman, Renong Sakit and Sugi Sakit by a lemambang bard, Gawai Antu ( festival of the dead ) to honour ancestors and the rarely celebrated but the most elaborate and complex Gawai Burong ( Bird Festival ) with nine ascending stages in the Saribas / Skrang region or Gawai Amat ( Real Festival ) in the Baleh region with eight degrees as listed by Masing.
