Yesterday, we went to the local summer festival, in Kakogawa. Apparently summer festivals are quite popular here in Japan, and my timing was such that I get to attend this one. Andrew put on his yukata and we drove over to the nearest shopping center and parked our car. As we marched towards the riverside, there were a lot of people heading the same way, and along the way we met up with two of Andrew’s former students, Hidemi and Haruna.
We walked along the main drag after laying down a tarp, and enjoyed Japanese fair food. The big favorite around here is takoyaki, which is octopus tentacles cooked into a batter in a ball shape – for 500 yen you can get a plate full. They had many other types of food, and since it was so hot, shaved ice was very popular as well.
Once it got dark, we enjoyed some fireworks put on by the Kakogawa Fire Department. The fireworks were better than the 4th of July displays that I’ve seen – some seemed fairly dangerous. The crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed, just like they do in America.
While walking around, I find that I stick out quite a bit. If you look around at the people walking by, many of them will be looking at you – some friendly, most indifferent, but curious. I find that everywhere I go, I’m under scrutiny. It’s a strange feeling. I did get some free food because I lingered near a booth – they offered me the food to try – maybe just to see my reaction. Everything I ate was great – I’m not going to starve to death over here.
After the fireworks we went to a CoCo’s restaurant near my apartment. They are a chain in America, I believe – it was funny to see them off the beaten path in Japan. They bill themselvers as a “California Restaurant”, and it was like eating in the most bland restaurant in the world. Jamie, a JET teacher that has been here a year, went nuts when he saw that they had quesadillas on the menu. The quesadilla was not that great, but he was pretty tortilla starved, and chowed down quickly. Afterwards we took Hidemi and Haruna home, and went back to crash.
