Obon Festival in Tokyo

Last weekend, we went to our very first Obon Festival out in Tokyo. An Obon Festival is a yearly Japanese tradition to honor loved ones that have passed away. The festival we went to was at Hibiya Park, which is one of the largest Bon Odori (Obon dances) in Tokyo with about 40,000 participants every year. There was a stage with Taiko drummers at the front of the park that overlooked a circular fountain where people constantly danced around the entire evening. Bern and I had fun learning all the different Obon dances

 

There were also plenty of food options to snack on in-between dances; but our favorite were the thick pieces of grilled bacon on a stick

 

 

And no festival here in Japan is complete without sake...they had a huge barrel of it and were selling a full 9oz cup for only 100 Yen ($1). Needless to say but for that price, we had our share of sake that night! To our surprise, one of Bern's co-workers, Michael, was actually at the festival too so we all hung out together and had a blast.

 

 

 

 

Being that the true meaning of this Japanese festival is to honor family members who had passed away, I couldn't help but think of my paternal grandparents the entire evening. This is one of my favorite pictures of them taken around the 1930's I believe.

 

        

Being here in Japan has really given me the opportunity to truly connect with the other side of my heritage in a way I can't fully explain...all I know is that Bern and I are eager to learn more about the Japanese culture during these next 3 years!      

 

 

          

Summer Time in Yokosuka

When Bern and I first got to Yokosuka back in March, people warned us how miserably humid the summer months can get here & boy were they right! As soon as you step outside, you just start sweating and glistening. It's so hot Bern bought a UV protected umbrella & I had to start carrying around a face cloth (handkerchief). Thank goodness our place has AC, it's practically ON all day. The only bad part is our electricity bill doubled from around $80 USD a month to about $170....

 

I guess that's why I haven't really been posting lately, all we've been doing is staying home. But there have been a few occasions we decided to bite the bullet and go out. One day, we were craving Chinese food so decided to take the train up to Chinatown. But before eating dinner, we stopped by the Nissan Headquarters in Yokohama.

 

 

At the main floor of Nissan was a showroom that displayed all of their newest models including the turbo-charged Skyline GT-R, a few of their classics such as the Datsun Fairlady Z, and even a few concept vehicles like the one Bern and I actually got to sit in.

 

 

 

 

Even got to test drive a Nissan Skyline GT-R ...in the video game Gran Turismo 6.

 

 

Another time we went out this month was for the annual Yokosuka Friendship Day on base.

 

 

This is a special day when the military base opens it's gates to all Japanese visitors...and do they ever take advantage of this opportunity. Thousands of Japanese nationals came out to take part in the day's festivities which included a car show & special performances by the dance group Tokyo Dream Girl & Che'Nelle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite all the entertainment, I think the real reason why so many Japanese people came out to Friendship Day was for the American style pizza. From the moment we got there until the time we left, the line for pizza was crazy long. We saw people with three or more boxes of pizza; some were even smart enough to bring hand carts to carry all of their pizza home.

 

 

 

 

Apparently it's not the taste of the American-style pizza, but the size & price. For instance, one night we ordered a large pizza from a Japanese pizza chain "Pizza-La" With tax and delivery fee, it came out to $30 USD. Grant it that we did order a specialty pizza with pepperoni, sausage, & get this...hot dogs in the crust. But despite all that, a large Japanese pizza is about a medium size. A large pizza on base only cost them about $15 so that's why it's so popular with many of the Japanese people.

 

 

And finally, another unique summer experience occurred as we were heading home one day from running errands.... we got to watch our first arm wrestling tournament. This was something you don't see on the streets back in the States. There was a sizeable crowd watching guys arm wrestle, but one match I want to highlight was between this big Japanese guy and a skinny Japanese guy. As they made their way on stage, everyone started laughing (us included) thinking the skinny guy had no chance of winning. But sure enough, he surprised everyone and beat the big guy...it wasn't even close. It just goes to show that it's not the size of a dog in a fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

 

 

Living by the old adage "When in Rome..." Bern and I also decided to buy his and her Yukata's, which are basically summer kimonos. Anything to beat the heat right! Well, hope you all are staying cool during these last few weeks of summer. Stay tuned for our first Obon Fesitval & our trip to Hiroshima.

 

 

 

 

Ja Mata Ne- See you Later!

   

Comic-Con 365

Last weekend, the annual Comic-Con was in our hometown of San Diego. Over the course of four days, hundreds of thousands of people flock to the Convention Center in Downtown to check out all the latest happenings in the world of comics & fictional entertainment. Unfortunately, Bern and I have never had the opportunity to go to Comic-Con. But now that we live here in Japan, we went to check out an area in Tokyo called Akihabara which is basically Comic-Con on steroids. Akihabara started off as an "electronic town" where you could get all sorts of electronic gadgets & computer goods. Although nowadays, it's well-known for being the center of anime (animation), manga (Japanese comics), & video games.

 

Rows and rows of these mini-stores selling electronic goodies

 

 

 

 

There are a number of buildings, some even 8-10 stories high, filled with all sorts of comic-related items. Here are just a few of the things we discovered while exploring Akihabara:

Wall of toy vending machines...who wouldn't want to collect vomiting cats or peeing dogs?   

Anime-style girl dolls...Creeeeeepy!    

A wide array of action figures

 

Trading card games where grown men can challenge friends right there in the store...NERD ALERT!

 

For a country that prohibits firearms, they sure do love shooting fake ones

 

YES!! 

 

A robotic Hello Kitty...Bern's favorite!

 

These pictures can only give you a small glimpse into this crazy world that is Akihabara. If you're into this whole scene, we would love to take you here so you can see for yourself.

To end off, many girls in this part of town love dressing up as anime characters sometimes wearing short skirts/dresses as part of their costumes. Well, there was a very informative sign we saw heading up the escalator to board the train back home that we wanted to show you...
 

WATCH OUT LADIES!