Sanja Matsuri

Okay, before I jump into what I did today, I'll give a brief recap of my day trip to Yokosuka last weekend. Brief, because there isn't a whole lot of excitement in taking pictures of American style grocery stores. But, it was a very welcome trip! I got lots of tasty American food that I've been craving since I returned to Japan, and I got to buy some make-up at the adjoining exchange. Make-up in Japan is very expensive, so I find myself extremely reluctant to buy any here in Tokyo. Plus, my complexion is a bit more olive than the average Japanese girl's, and that makes it hard to find a matching foundation. I think the food purchase I was most excited about was the extra large box of Lucky Charms... it lasted four days. Clearly, I am suffering from withdrawals of American (sugary) cereal. Which is funny, because I don't even eat Lucky Charms in the states. But, the only cereal I can buy in Japan is corn flakes, and I eat corn flakes even less than I eat Lucky Charms!

Today was more exciting, at least in terms of picture taking. My neighbor told me that Asakusa was holding a festival in today. Apparently, its the third largest festival held in Tokyo! It became apparent that when we got out in Asakusa, I knew the most about the location. I hadn't realized I'd been there that much, but I actually have gone to the temple a number of times. It very well could be my favorite district in Tokyo. I love the big temple, and the channel is extremely peaceful to sit and watch.

According to my neighbor (who told us about the festival) today's event was to encourage a good growing season for the summer crops. Several groups dressed in special kimono-type robes carried shrines on their shoulders, and visited all the near-by streets to bless them for the coming months. As they walked, these groups chanted something. But, I'm not sure what. Sadly, Japanese class doesn't really cover seasonal chants.

Immediately, upon exiting the train station we got to see all these parade shrines march down the street. It's really fun to see the Japanese so excited over their festivals. It's one of the only times they're so enthusiastic. The parade shrines were really gorgeous, and the pictures I took really don't do them justice. You had to be there in person to see just how delicately worked the gold of the phoenix was. I'm sure the colors of each of the shrines is significant too, but I'm not sure what they represent.

There were lots of children's booths set up at the festival too! Where kids could play festival games and win prizes. One of Japan's most famous festival games is that of catching goldfish. I've never seen it before today, but I kinda feel bad for the poor fish. What happens is the booth owner sets up a trough of water, and puts about a hundred fish in it. Then as kids come by, they pay the game fee and are given a small paper "net" (it looks like a bubble wand with a bit bigger "mouth" that's covered in paper). The kids dip the "net" into the water and try and lift the gold fish out. Of course, you have to balance the "net" just right or the goldfish's body weight breaks the paper screen. 

 

You can't really see the "nets" in these pictures, but you get the idea. When a gold fish is caught, they are placed inside the child's bowl. Then, after they are finished fishing, they can either dump the fish back into the trough, or choose which ones they want to take home. This particular booth said that children could only bring home a maximum of five gold fish. But the little girl in this picture was on a role! She had a good dozen in her bowl! 

Of course, the most important aspect of the festival was the food! I readily admit that I am a bit obsessed with festival food here in Japan. It's so good! Today, I had yakisoba, a chocobanana (which I seem to get every time I go to a festival), and a boba tea. It was all delicious! Actually, I was rather surprised that I liked the tea, since I usually don't like the tapioca (the little black balls of jelly) that come in the bottom of the cup. But, I really enjoyed it today!

And that was today's adventure! 

PS. I did cook dinner tonight, a Japanese dish. And it turned out rather successful! I made Japanese hambagu and jyagabatta with a side of steamed broccoli and a ketchup/soy sauce dip for the meat! 

Hambagu: Japan's take on a Western classic, meatloaf. It's really easy to make, and I enjoyed it immensely  Especially since I actually had ketchup today!

Jyagabatta: This was inspired by the festival today. It's a common festival food. Baked potato with butter and mayonaise on it. Today, I steamed the potatoes in a dashi stock (a type of Japanese radish). It came out really well. I think the dashi helped the potato taste more like jyagabatta and less like mashed potatoes.