Yesterday, my students advised me that there would be a festival today that I might be interested in. They said that it would run all day, but that it would probably be best if I went at night.
I had no plans for today, so I thought it would be interesting to go. I found the general area without trouble, and took some pictures. I actually got stopped by a policeman for riding at night without a light, but other than directing me to a department store, he didn’t do anything about it. However, I almost missed the main event; the entrance wasn’t all that obvious.
Once I got inside, it turned out to be almost exactly like going to a fair in the US. There were a large number of stalls selling any number of things, and running various games. Tons of people were milling about, enjoying themselves. It was interesting, because this is the first time I’ve seen people other than temple monks in the traditional japanese clothing. Tonight, at least half the people were in their yukata.
Of course, there were differences between this and the fairs I’ve seen in the US. On the negative side, there were no carnival rides, which is too bad; I was kind of looking forward to riding some sort of machine which turned me upside down. On the positive side, there was no livestock exhibition stinking up the place. On the neutral side, some of the stalls sold things which just wouldn’t go over in the US: deep fried octopus balls, tentacles-on-a-stick, and beer by the 2 liter bottle were among the things I saw.
I’ve wondered: why is it that the only drink you can buy in increments greater than 1.5 liters here is beer? I wasn’t expecting to see 3-liter store-brand sodas, but I was expecting at least 2-liter bottles to be available. There just aren’t any such things here. Actually, as far as I can tell, there are also no store brands; everything here has a Big Name.
The ride took about half an hour, which wasn’t bad in and of itself, but was a bit nerve-wracking. This was mainly due to the fact that there are no curbs in the way that I’m used to; bicyclists just have to either use the sidewalk where it exists, or ride along the 8-inch-wide gutter and just deal with the fact that massive trucks will be passing within inches of the handlebars. Compounding this was the fact that I had to ride on the right (which means the ‘wrong’) side of the road; I have no rear reflector, and I wanted drivers to be aware of my existence.
I made it in one piece, though, which implies that this is a safe and acceptable mode of transportation, even at night.
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