(七夕) Tanabata and Other Festivals

It is festival season in Japan! :D Why it must coincide with the rainy season, I don't know, but this is the time of year when practically every weekend there is some sort of festival going on somewhere. 

Paper Wishes

Most traditional holidays in Japan are on the same day of the month as the number of the month. For example, March 3rd is Hina Matsuri, which we usually translate as Girl's Day, despite the fact that Hina is a type of doll (which you set out displays of on this day), and May 5th is Kodomo no Hi, or Children's Day. July 7th is the Tanabata Matsuri. Tanabata (七夕) means "Evening of the 7th", and although the same isn't usually translated into English, I have also heard it called the "Star Festival". I think this is because the festival has something to do with the stars Vega and Altair, because I overheard someone talking about that. :P During this day, people walk around in Yukata, which are the summer versions of Japanese Kimono, and they buy food and play games at vendor stalls and watch fireworks, and other festivally things. Another big thing about the Tanabata Festival is that you are supposed to write down your wish on a piece of paper and tie is to a bamboo plant. Since July 7th was a Saturday, Shiga University held their annual Tanabata Fesitval on Friday the 6th, which isn't an uncommon thing to do. I'm also pretty sure besides the day we had the typhoon, Friday the 6th was the rainiest day we've had this rainy season. But the Japanese people are not to be deterred from their festivals! So we were going anyway.
I borrowed a yukata from our friend Kaitlin. She is one of the Americans, obviously, but she is collecting kimonos and yukatas to start her own business, and she was kindly lending them out to those who haven't bought one, like me (since I can't bring myself to buy one unless it's super super cheap, and so far, they have been really really expensive). Although my umbrella that I bought in Japan is cute, it's tiny, so my friend lent me a large umbrella that went with my yukata. I obviously don't have the whole ensemble- usually there are Japanese Geta, those traditional wooden clogs, along with a hair piece and a purse like how Alisa has there- but here is the outcome.

Actually, after Kaitlin put the Obi- the belt- on and then left, both mine and Alex's came undone and we ran around the building like "WHO CAN TIE AN OBI!?"- it's rather complicated to put yukatas on- and we realized the offices were just about to close so we ran over to the class room building and chased two sensei's down the hall like "SENSEEEEEIIII! CAN YOU TIE AN OBI!!!!????" XD Luckily the level 4 sensei knew how to, so she fixed our Obis and the large group of mostly yukata clad Americans set out 40 minute walk in the light shower of rain to Shiga University.

We arrived near the start of the festivities, and there were tents set up with stalls underneath and quite a few people. I bounced around from person to person for a while, not really doing much of anything. That's the thing about festivals: If you want to do anything, you have to come prepared to spend lots of money. Vendors take this opportunity to make some bucks since they know that people will buy their stuff since it's a festival afterall, and what is a festival without shaved ice/beer/okonomiyaki/dumplings/yakitori/crepes/etc.

Tents and Stuff :D

A really cool a capella concert

Me and Hikaru with the little mascot, Kamon-chan

Eventually I found my friend Hikaru and we hung out, watched an a capella concert, tried to wait to go to a haunted house (but the line was WAY too slow), got food, talked with friends, etc. Around 8 o'clock, Alex and I decided to go since we couldn't find any of the other Americans anyway. We hadn't planned on walking to the festival in the first place, but since we couldn't really get on the yukata without Kaitlin's help, once she put it on us we didn't want to take it off to ride our bikes and then try and put it on again later. So now we had to walk back to school in the dark, while the rain had picked up a lot of force. In Japan, this time of year the sun sets around 7:30 or so- super early (but that's why it rises at 4), and they currently have an energy shortage in Japan. Because of last year's nuclear plant crises after the tsunami, Japan has been trying to become less dependent on said dangerous energy source, but that means they have less to go around. So usually if a light isn't needed, they don't use it. And since cars have their own light source, who needs street lamps? Well, the two Gaijin walking in the rain in yukatas need street lights, but Japan wants to deny us the comfort of being able to see where we are going, because we essentially could see nothing. But Alex and I still had fun talking and walking, even though a couple of jerks drove their cars close to us so it would splash onto the side walk and get us wet. I, however, became quite upset when we got back to school to discover that Kaitlin and her roommate, instead of coming back to school, had gone to a party afterwards, but left their door locked. I had no backpack, no bike key, no umbrella, nothing warmer to wear than my cami and bike riding shorts, and Alex had no clothes at all to wear. Alex was able to borrow someone's dress and I borrowed a sweater, but this turn of events did not put us in the mood to ride through the rain to the station. We had a taxi take us to the station, and what usually is like a 15 minute ride by bike, was a $15 taxi ride- which compared to Tokyo or Nagahama or other cities is ridiculously expensive (probably because they have less customers to make money off of in Hikone). But since Alisa's train to go back to her home stay only leaves really early, she came with us to Nagahama to spend the night. And by the time we got to the station, waited for the train, got to Nagahama, and took another taxi home, it was 11 at night.

The other day when Alex and I came home, we noticed that there was a festival looking thing that was happening all along Nagahama Ootemondoori, that long shopping street. I don't know if it's actually called a festival of some kind, but there are all the same types of vendors there were at the Tanabata Festival at Shiga University, except so much more! So the three of us, Alex, Alisa, and myself, decided that's what we wanted to do Saturday.

We slept in ate lazed about after breakfast, so we didn't even get out to the festival until 2 pm, and by then it was already crowded with people. There was so much to do! We didn't spend money on the games, but there were plenty of those, plus so much good food! Tons of Japanese dishes, plus so many other cool things like candied fruits, crepes, chocolate covered bananas, caramel apples, shaved ice, bubble tea, corn on the cob, cucumbers of a stick, Japanese candies, ice cream, hot dogs, parfaits! Oh my gosh, I didn't get nearly as much food as Alex or Alisa did, and I was stuffed! For my main food, I actually passed up the Japanese dishes when I found two Turkish guys selling Turkish food, and I got what they had written in Japanese was a kebab, and was definitely a sandwich of the Döner variety. And for once while here in Japan, the Japanese people seemed to be happy to see us! We bought two candied apple lollipops, and the vendor gave us one more for free! We gave the original two we bought to the people who had helped us when we were lost that one day, and Alex and I shared the third one. When we got our candy, you paid by the gram, and after we'd paid, the guy put two more scoops of candy in each of our bags! And even the Turkish guy told me mine was special and he gives extra just for me! XD I thanked him in Turkish after he told me the words for it, but I wish I remembered more Turkish from my linguistics classes :P. We walked up and down that long crowded street so many times, and every time we found something else we wanted! XD

Chocolate covered bananas!

Ringo ame - Apple Candy

Kebab! :D SO DE-FRICKIN-LICIOUS!

Yaki tori - Grilled Chicken

Filling bags with candy

Okonomiyaki

And did I mention it was crowded? Luckily, Alisa and I have no trouble being spotted in a crowd since we are taller than 90% of the Japanese population, or so it seems, but we kept losing track of Alex XD. Even with the crowd, we keep running across people we know! Sort of :P Like right away on Saturday, Alex and I found our favorite guy from the bike parking garage, and today I saw one of the JCMU teacher's wife and kids. Saturday as well we also ran into Jeff, a fellow student who is doing home stay in Nagahama, and his host mom and sister. We went to the shrine together to take pictures and tie our paper wishes to the trees. His host mom is so adorable! She has been learning English for a few months now, and is very good for how little experience she has had!

Jeff, his host mom, and host sister in front of the woven hoop you are supposed to loop through three times for good luck during the Tanabata festival

Photobombing through life

Tying wishes

I'm so happy Jeff has such a great host family :)

Jeff's host mom's wish! <3 So cute!!!

After looping through the festival for several hours, Alex, Alisa, and I went to the station. We first stopped at Heiwado to take a purikura together ^_^ I never get tired of these XD

The Purikura booth

Decorating

The finished product!

We then goofed around at the train station while we waited to get to Hikone to get the things we left behind the day before. We thought we could take the free shuttle to JCMU once we got to Hikone, but we would have had to wait a whole hour for the next one, meaning we would get there faster by walking. The three of us set out, singing the stupidest songs we could think of at the top of our lungs. :P After almost an hour, we got to the school got our bags and our bikes, went back to the station and Alex and I went home to Nagahama to have a very late and very much desired dinner after a full day of walking :) 

Now that I spent...um......waaay too much time writing this entry, it's time to do my homework for this weekend. Luckily it isn't so much, but after an entire weekend filled with being busy, I am exhausted. So I hope you enjoyed this one- leave a comment! I'd be happy to answer anything/hear your opinions :) Until tomorrow!

Mary

Location: Bed

Mood: Excited (*^▽^*)

Listening to: Ai se eu tu pego remix- Michel Telo

Japanese for the day: 楽しい たのしい tanoshii - fun! (Just yell this any time you are happy in Japan) :D