Onsen Matsuri
We came home tonight to find our little village packed with cars, and filled with the muffled beating of drums. It is the Mimata Onsen Matsuri, the annual festival in this little corner of nowhere, and they celebrate, as always, with a spirited performance of Kagura. We took the opportunity to avoid cooking dinner on this humid night, and stopped by the food stalls of the local hotels. A little Yakitori, some Takoyaki, and a couple of cold beers made a great dinner.
It is nice to have these little festivals, as sometimes the village life can be so quiet…
Tomorrow the festival will run all day - tonight was just the warm-up - and we will be getting up early as the kids have parts to play. Weather willing, they will be doing some sort of drum performance, although I am unclear on the details. Last year, the drum performance was cancelled due to rain, so I do not have much to go on. I am sure of a few things though, the kids will have been well drilled by their teachers, and their costumes will be colorful.
I am looking forward to a full day of Festival food… maybe tomorrow is the day that I finally give in and buy one of those “Squidcicles”: the grilled Squid on a stick. It looks like a big purple popcicle, and it smells like a smoky mistake…
Tempting…
Listening to: More Than Words from the album “20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Extreme” by Extreme, Cocoon from the album “On and On” by Jack Johnson