On Friday night, Taube organized a party for us to celebrate our old supervisor, Iizuka sensei. After six years, he recently changed jobs, and many of us are returning to the States, so we just wanted to say thank you. He worked really hard for us, and put up with a lot of baloney. Like Julian Friend said, Iizuka sensei was the bridge between American and Japanese expectations; he endured the stress and kept everyone connected.
As a token of our gratitude, we taught him the fine art of double-fisting:
David's about to order the next round. Yes, he is godlike in this capacity.
Hmm, fifteen people and... how many glasses?
It was a great party. Everyone's anecdotes made me realize just how much has transpired in the last year, and how little time we have left together. I was happy that the party theme continued through the next day, with the yukata matsuri!
Again, we were blessed with a break in the weather. It rains ceaselessly during a Japanese summer, which continues to baffle this monsoon-accustomed Arizona native. Every day, hour after hour, solid sheets of rain. But then you decide to do something outside, like go to the beach or attend an outdoor festival, and the sun decides it would like to be there too...
Himeji's yukata matsuri, the annual summer kimono festival, is rumored to be the largest in Japan. Then again, every city is famous for one thing, so it might be a bit greedy on our part if we had the best castle and the biggest matsuri... But it wouldn't surprise me if it truly were the largest because the city was completely transformed! The sleepy streets, numerous blocks in every direction, were lined with food and game stalls, and people were out in droves! The usual ten-minute walk from the station to the castle took the better part of an hour if you weren't fighting the crowd.
A lot of our Japanese friends don't regularly go to the matsuri. And if you ask about it, they say, "Oh, no... there's too many people." Which is true; it's absolutely insane how many people are crammed onto the streets. I guess it's similar to the mentality of those Pamplonans who rent out their apartments and skip town during the Running of the Bulls: If you've done it once, you don't need to do it again. But I think our newbie excitement rubbed off on some of them, and we all had a great time experiencing it together!
We had a party at the residence while everyone got ready to go downtown. Well, the guys just had to put on their pajama-like jinbe and throw back a few beers while waiting for the ladies to coordinate their outfits, style their hair, and figure out how to tie an obi and make it hold everything together.
And it was all just so people could parade their beautiful yukatas! Eiko, my ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) instructor and professional dresser, told me the festival was probably designed to increase cotton sales and boost the economy during the Edo period. Obviously, the ever escalating battle between the police and the biker gangs is a recent addition to the tradition, but a fun one nonetheless! It was so much fun being in the thick of it!
There was heaps of good food, all the kind of food I would never trust at a state fair back home! The women were beautiful in their yukatas, and the children were adorable. Catching an eel (as a pet? to eat?) was a game I couldn't really justify spending my money on. However, I did have to think twice about getting a baby quail. And that's all the whole evening was: food and games and people watching, and getting dressed up just for the fun of it!
Tomoko and Eiko rocked our obis!
Allison, Michelle, and Yours Truly.
I got my yukata at Uniqlo, which is basically the Gap. (They make clothes that fit life-size people, so it's a part of my life here.) Surprisingly, I only saw one or two other girls with the same print. It was fun to squeal and giggle about it with strangers; there were no catty Prom fights that I'd anticipated!
Waiting for the bus.
"Everybody peace!"
And the party's just gettin' started...
Why?!
Baby birdies!!!
Um, I'm full, thanks.
People watching.
Scoop as many toys as you can before your rice paper net breaks!
Because it just isn't a party without an ice sculpture.
This is Himeji castle in the Bond movie You Only Live Twice, which was showing at Mr. B's, the coolest new gaijin (foreigner) bar in town. Mr. B is a US military man; how could his bar not be cool?!
Kyosuke, Makoto, Lauren, Lucy, Marie, me and Tina outside of Mr. B's.
My feet were so swollen after walking around in my geta (wooden sandals) all night, but it was totally worth it. The shape of the geta and the restriction the yukata places on the movement of your legs make you shuffle your feet. With seemingly thousands of people shuffling along, it was one of the most prominent noises of the evening! I wish I could more vividly capture all the sights and sounds and smells for you. Anyway.
One of the best parts of the evening was when Tina, Lauren, Marie and I decided to walk home around midnight. When we were leaving dowtown, we crossed paths with a group of about twenty teenage boys who looked to be up to no good. Marie started freaking out, sure they were bent on harming us. I said, "Marie! Just step off the sidewalk, keep moving and don't make eye contact. We'll be fine!" Four pretty girls, and we didn't even get cat-called, although one boy did say "Hello!"
And that my friends, is why I don't think twice about walking home after a night on the town. This is Japan.
