Today there were a lot of people in town for the popular Japanese holiday, Obon. A lot of families from Yokohama-machi that have since moved to places like Tokyo and Kanagawa came back this week for the festival. Today, I attended Yokohama-machi's 成人式, which celebrates all of the people turning 20 years old in Yokohama-machi this year.
After, we went to a festival at the park where they handed out free potato and pork soup (DELICIOUS) and had other awesome food like yakitori (chicken on a stick), croquettes, and 菜の花 donuts (the town is well known for their bright, yellow canola flowers and they make donuts and ice cream out of them).
Then everyone went down to the river where a bunch of fish are thrown in the water and children and adults alike try to catch fish with their bare hands. In Japanese, they call it 魚をつかむ (sakana wo tsukamu). I've been trying to practice my Japanese! I didn't catch anything, although I saw several fish. To be honest, I was scared of touching a live fish and I felt bad killing them! Also, I'm not stealthy like that whatsoever. The fish shown above was my co-worker's son's. Actually, his son spotted the fish and his grandmother caught it. That makes me feel good about myself- a 70 year old woman can catch a fish with her bare hands, but I can't. Ha-ha!
Tonight we will watch fireworks and tomorrow is the traditional Japanese dancing. Unfortunately I cannot make that. Since I am the newest JET in the area, all the local JETs are having a welcoming party. That's not a bad excuse for being unable to go to Obon-odori tomorrow night!
P.S. I have yet to figure out how to rotate those pictures. The selfie above is with my supervisor, Mizuho. She's the same age as me! She's great. I teach her English and she teaches me Japanese.
After, we went to a festival at the park where they handed out free potato and pork soup (DELICIOUS) and had other awesome food like yakitori (chicken on a stick), croquettes, and 菜の花 donuts (the town is well known for their bright, yellow canola flowers and they make donuts and ice cream out of them).
Then everyone went down to the river where a bunch of fish are thrown in the water and children and adults alike try to catch fish with their bare hands. In Japanese, they call it 魚をつかむ (sakana wo tsukamu). I've been trying to practice my Japanese! I didn't catch anything, although I saw several fish. To be honest, I was scared of touching a live fish and I felt bad killing them! Also, I'm not stealthy like that whatsoever. The fish shown above was my co-worker's son's. Actually, his son spotted the fish and his grandmother caught it. That makes me feel good about myself- a 70 year old woman can catch a fish with her bare hands, but I can't. Ha-ha!
Tonight we will watch fireworks and tomorrow is the traditional Japanese dancing. Unfortunately I cannot make that. Since I am the newest JET in the area, all the local JETs are having a welcoming party. That's not a bad excuse for being unable to go to Obon-odori tomorrow night!
P.S. I have yet to figure out how to rotate those pictures. The selfie above is with my supervisor, Mizuho. She's the same age as me! She's great. I teach her English and she teaches me Japanese.