Kamezaki's Shiohi Matsuri *GW Days 1 & 2* (Day 2)!!

Sunday, May 4

So everyone woke up at, like, 7:30 this morning. Ughhhhhh. No. Not after we only got back at midnight. Exhausted, I stumbled into breakfast and ate more of those sushi and then we got dressed and folded up our futons and took obaasan back to her sister's house (she'd come home with us last night). We stopped so obaasan could get groceries and then she used the fact that she had groceries she needed to take home as an excuse to let us into a blocked off area near her sister's house so we could park closer, haha.
While we were at the grocery store waiting for her though, Sexyback came on the radio. It was super awks. But I don't think anyone understood what it was saying, so all was good, haha.

Back in Kamezaki, the yatai were all out again and the streets were buzzing!

Miya's and my favorite happi

When we got to the house, everyone from yesterday was there. This older loud, lady with a gravelly smoker's voice who was somehow related to Ken had come in later yesterday. And now she was back again with her young son and her son's wife and little daughter.
Shizuka's sister broke the news that Shizuka had gotten engaged in April to a Spanish man! Everyone was all excited for her and Shizuka showed off her ring. Yuko told me this was Shizuka's second marriage! And Shizuka told everyone she was 45. I was so shocked! She looked really young, but it turned out she was the oldest of her sisters!!

When we got in and sat at the long table (I hated sitting at it because it was on the wooden floor and we just had little cushions to sit on, so my legs hurt and I had no back rest), obaasan (Ken's aunt, the other obaasan) gave us some okashi she'd bought! It was monaka! What Keiichiro had bought me way back when we went to the temple that time! Except this one was already made and it was flower shaped! So cute. ^^

 

 

After we ate it, one of Ken's relatives shouted for us to hurry outside, because the festival parade was passing by the house. So we went out to see it.

Also Ken's cousin's husband who's in the matsuri brought back two ice cream cones for Miya!!

 

This float had a special name that I forgot, that means that the god is inside it, and the people carrying him are the god's guards, protecting him.

Miya's favorite float

 Then we had lunch. More sushi and crabs, guys. But I love that sushi, so I can't complain. At first it was just sashimi and crabs. Ken asked if I wanted a crab, but I didn't want to deal with opening it again. I don't like crabs that much, so I said no. And I guess he didn't think sashimi was enough, because he had obaasan cut up more sushi for me. So that was really nice!!

Then Miya ate one of her ice creams. Gosh, it looked so good!

After lunch, I went to the bathroom and when I came out, Miya and Yuko were gone. Ken told me they'd gone to buy taiyaki, so I should go too. I went out to the taiyaki stand and found them waiting in the ridiculously long line it's had each day, all day. Yuko asked me why I was there. Ummm? I just said Ken had told me to come. She was like, "Well we're just getting taiyaki. We were going to go back to the house afterwards." But when we got back to the house, Ken was outside waiting for us. Yuko ran in anyway to give one of the taiyaki to obaasan. 

And then we finally, went out to the matsuri for real. Today the ocean entering ceremony was later in the day. It was at 2. And after that the floats would move to the main shrine, that we'd passed when we first came yesterday, and redo the puppet show there.

So we got to go to the ocean!! I brought my flip flops with me and we headed to the sea.

It was my first time being to the beach in Japan!! It was nothing like Okinawa, the water wasn't too clear, there was a ton of seaweed, and there was hardly any sand (most of it was bordered by the sea wall, so there was only one tiny, actual beach part and no one was in bathing suits or sunbathing). But boy, did it remind me of Long Island. The sand and ocean were the same color and it even had jetties sticking out on either side. Gosh, I miss Point Lookout.

First float being pulled down to the beach

So many peopleeee!!

You guys! I'm standing in sand!!

Yuko said because of the climate (she meant the fact that it was currently low tide), the floats weren't going all the way in the ocean today. What?? I felt cheated. I wanted to see them like they are in the pictures, sitting in the ocean. There's a big old, black and white photo in Ken's aunt's house of them all in the ocean. And I wouldn't get to see it!
I asked if yesterday they had gone in and Ken said probably, since it was earlier in the day. Arrggghhh. Stupid traffic! We should have just run down to see it right when we drove in. But everyone else has seen this festival tons of times before so they didn't care.

At least the last two floats went more into the water before they turned, because they had to be placed farther down the beach.

It looks fun to be at the front pulling it

 

Haha, there was so much wakame (seaweed)! On the way down yesterday, Miya and I (well, mostly I) had created a new version of the "Curry rice" rock, paper, scissors game we play. You start off with "umi" (sea) and then "rock" is "kai" (seashell), "paper" is "wakame" (seaweed), and "scissors" is "sakana" (fish). Then when you both put the same one, you shout "shiomizu!" (salt water), instead of just "mizu" like in "curry rice." Lol it's fun. We played it a lot during our time here and I always won, because Miya kept forgetting she had to say shiomizu. All Ken's relatives thought it was funny and a cute game lol.

So yeah, here's me with wakame!

 

Miya and I had a wakame fight and at one point I threw a huge clump at her leg and when it hit her leg, she freaked out and stumbled backwards and fell over landing assdown in the water. Hahahaha. Her parents cracked up. And she thought it was funny too. But her dress got all dirty!

Last float!

Me with the floats!

Miya and me. I'm holding wakame lol

Ken trying to throw a huge clump of wakame at Miya

Miya holding on to me for dear life

Then we headed up to wash our feet and let Miya change dresses. Apparently she falls down every year, so Yuko had brought a spare dress.

So pretty!

We headed up to this big park area. Places to sit down are so hard to find in big cities, but here was a huge patch of grass with benches and picnic tables. It was amazing!

 

After we washed our feet and Miya changed, we sat down to eat the taiyaki. Yuko and Ken split one and Miya and I split one. 

 

I realized why the line had been so long. It was a special kind of taiyaki, I forgot the name, but it's made using this caramelized sugary thin wafer-y stuff instead of the usual bread. It was SOOOO good though! And then it had the regular anko inside.

Miya looking cute on the beach!

Me with the sakura float being pulled in!

Sakura float

Then we watched as all the floats were pulled up to the main shrine.

The first float - the one that the kids made the puppet dance in

Miya's float

Our float

We left after seeing our float because Miya was cold. On the way home, Yuko bought Miya a crepe. OMG it looked SOOO good! It had honeydew pieces in it. Arghhh I wanted it so badly!

Cute kid with a pokemon mask!

Adorable giant fish plushie at the goldfish scoop

We hung around at home, until it was time for the puppet shows. Miya was super exicted for them, so we all put our sweaters on and then headed out.

This time I got a picture of the doll on our float with its drunk, red face!

And it sobered up again!

We all sat on the steps of the shrine to watch the performance. At one point, I noticed the Japanese girls behind me saying "uwahhh" and pointing up at the sky, so I looked up and saw a "niji" (rainbow)!! It was so pretty up there with the shrine!!

Here's a picture:

On Tuesday, a friend told me I got a really good angle in this picture! :)

It's funny a while back in high school, I saw this short clip of an opening of Bleach, where it had a smiley face rainbow in the sky and I thought that was a weird shape for a rainbow and made up by the anime studio. But that's what this rainbow looked like too! Is that what rainbows in Japan look like?

In case you're curious, it's ending 30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHA9qIoA2Es

Then they got all set up for the top half of the float's performances and we watched the three we hadn't seen yet, as well as the the weasel one again.

The first float had a cauldron which all this confetti flew out of. It was cool!

Then the rest were all basically just puppets moving around. They were more boring than the bottom displays had been. And they were a lot longer...

Yuko bought us sweet potato fries to share, so I got one!

It was weird. It was covered in cinammon and sugar rather than salt. So it was nice and sweet and I really liked it!

And then we headed back home before the sakura one because Yuko was cold. Back home, we hung out some more with everyone and then had dinner. The lady who I wasn't sure how she was realated, with the son, talked to me a lot. She showed me pictures on her phone and movies of her little nephews in matsuri in Okinawa. It was cute!!

When we finished dinner, Miya had her second ice cream! She'd eaten so much today, I couldn't believe it!! And those were big ice cream cones!

Then she and I ran around hiding rubber bands from each other and making the other find them. Ken's cousin's husband played with us too. We also flung the rubber bands around the house, haha. It was fun.

Then, finally, it was time to head home. So we started the long drive back to Ichinomiya. For the first time ever since being here, I fell asleep on the ride back. I was just too exhausted. When we got home, I was allowed to shower first and then we all went to sleep.

Tokyo Day 6 (Beach, shrine, and departure)!!

Friday, March 21(First day of Spring!)

Oh man, my last day in Tokyo! I was so not ready to leave, so I knew I had to make every minute of today worth it.

That being said, I still wasn't willing to get out of bed before 8, lol.

I finally got up around 8:30, ate a big breakfast, checked out (they let me leave my suitcase there for the day) and headed out.

I decided I'd go to the Tsukiji Fish Market first and then after that walk the rainbow bridge to Odaiba. I'd remembered last night, when I was talking to Minju and Sayaka, that I had wanted to see the neko cafe with the giant pink cat entrance. This:

So I looked up where it was and saw it was in Odaiba. Crap. But I'd wanted to walk the rainbow bridge anyway, so I guess I was going back. I couldn't believe I'd been to Odaiba and walked around Decks, where it is, and hadn't seen it! I wondered if maybe it wasn't there anymore? But I found an article written in July of 2013 about someone who'd gone, so I knew it must still be there.

So yeah, that was my plan.

And I definitely still wanted to hit up Meiji Shrine as well.

I could take the subway right up to the market, but I decided to save money and take the JR and walk to the market, since I'd already blown close to $100 on transportation. Ughhhh Tokyo trains...

So I took the train to Shinbashi Eki.

Pretty stained glass in Shinbashi Eki

Outside Shiodome subway station (it says Shiodome)

I passed some sort of show with all these teeny boppers screaming and holding signs. The security guard there got mad at me for taking pictures lol

The buildings around here were so pretty! This train track is for the beautiful train that goes to Odaiba

Another pretty shiny building

After asking multiple security guards for directions along the way, I finally reached the Tsukiji Fish Market!
Right away, I was hit with a nasty fishy smell, ugh!

Giant fish chillin out in the open for everyone to see

Cute shrine in the middle of the market

Looking out on the market

Cool tree in the shrine

Little Buddha statue further down the street

I liked the back of her shirt

Ugh, my photos are flipping again. But look, oysters!

One of the shop owner's dog. It says his name is Yuko chan.

There were a bunch of samples, which is awesome because I love free food!
I hate most seafood, but I tried things anyway, and found them surprisingly delicious!

Egg sample. I look worried. But it ended up being sweet and good!

Omg... thousands of tiny fish!

Here's the one I ate... It was actually good!

More tiny fish. They were good too, although a bit too salty for me

The things I tried

 

I heard a bell ringing as I was leaving and ended up passing this shop just as they were cutting a giant maguro (tuna)!!! SO COOL!!!! I took a movie of it too.

Right after I stopped the movie, they held up the severed tail of the maguro. Dangit! I didn't get a chance to get a picture of it.

They cut the maguro's head off... :c

Front of the place where they dissected the maguro

After that, I'd had my fill and I needed to hurry if I wanted to do everything today, because it was already after 11!

I thought this was cute ^^ (It says, "Keep going, Japan!")

 

The problem with traveling alone is I get distracted easily, lol. I saw a huge staircase, so of course I wanted to see what was at the top of it. I walked up and ended up on a rooftop garden! It was so pretty!

Look, I caught the train as it was passing! Have I mentioned how much I love trains?

Cool clock on the side of this building

Preeeetyyyyyy

Display for Frozen. They were playing "Let It Go" in Japanese.

So I got on the train for Odaiba. It was all above ground!!! So cool! I love that train. I really wanted to ride it all the way to the last stop and back (because I could, without paying anything), but I didn't have time. :(
I got off at the stop before the train crosses the Rainbow Bridge, so I could walk the bridge.
There were a lot of young couples walking the bridge. It was cute!
Also, a lot of groups of runners.

On the ground on the bridge

Such pretty scenery!

Daiba is in front of me...

...And Shibabura is behind me!

Look, the sides of the bridge make a rainbow! See it?

Skylineeeee. I love water and cities that are on water!

Past the halfway point!

Rest of the bridge behind me

At the end of the bridge (upside down seagull)

And Odaiba in front of me!

Next to the exit from the bridge was the beach!! I LOVE beaches, so of course I decided to walk along it.
It's the first time I've seen a beach since last November! Not okay!

People living my dream and windsurfing!

Palm trees!

It looked like a storm was coming in, but it didn't rain at all! Yay! Even though it was supposed to rain today!

When I got up to Decks, I went in search of the Nyan cafe. I saw it was on the first floor, so I headed down the elevator along with these two Japanese girls who looked around my age.
The elevator opened into a parking lot. Are?
The Japanese girls spoke in super high pitched voices and were super fashionable. We bonded over being lost and I showed them the map I had that said the shops were all outside. We were all super confused, but eventually found our way out.

I went to where the map said the cafe was. But it was an abandoned store with guys moving stuff in and out of it and the giant pink cat entrance was nowhere to be found.
I was like Are you kidding me? So I went back up to floor 3 to Information and asked the lady in Japanese where the cat cafe was. She spoke really fast, but I caught that it wasn't there anymore. NOOOOOO. I asked her when it closed and she said October. ARE YOU EFFING SERIOUS? Literally like five months ago? I was so close to seeing it!
Argh, I was super pissed!
But at least I got these cool glasses at the Information center!

Look, I'm a derpy anime character!

Sand!! Yay!

Storm coming!

I found a bunch of petrified wood on the shore!

And then it was time to head back. Looking for the non-existant cat cafe had sucked up a huge chunk of time. It was already after noon!
I was really sad to leave. :( Walking back on the bridge made me feel like I wasn't just leaving Odaiba and Tokyo behind, but all of Japan! I realized I'm not ready to go back to America just yet!!

Heading home! Such a pretty bridge.

Walkway to cross to the other side of the bridge. It looked scary like it was going right down into the water!

Bye beach! Bye Ferris wheel! By Odaiba! :(((

I love this picture I took! It looks like a postcard!

Cool boat I saw going under the Rainbow Bridge

The elevator up to the bridge had a picture of the bridge etched into it!

Supah cool trash cans

After I walked back along the bridge, I got on the subway to go to Harajuku, so I could see Meiji Shrine.
While I was walking to the shrine, this creepy guy tried held out a Buddha lucky charm for me to take. I took it and then he asked for a donation. I shook my head and started to walk away when he grabbed my arm to keep me from leaving! He asked me to give him back the charm, so I held it out, but he knocked my arm and I ended up dropping it. I ran away after that. He was scary.
I saw a Buddha charm lady in the shrine and then that same guy later and they tried to give me lucky charms again, but I ignored them this time.
I noticed they only offered the lucky charms to foreigners. It was weird...

Takeshita Dori

Entrance to Meiji Shrine!

Heading in!

Sakeeee!!

I liked the pink flower barrel

Part of the shrine

Sacred trees

Lady in a kimono in front of the shrine

They had pink lucky charms like the ones I want, but they were 800 yen. I would have considered buying one, but luckily I can read some kanji and I saw they were charms for good luck in school. Yeah, I kind of don't really need that right now, seeing as I only have one more year.

Ema!

Awesome toilets at the shrine

I liked how when you were leaving you could see the city beyond the torii. It's so cool had such a peaceful place can exist in such a large city!

As I was walking back to the station, I saw some pretty funny shirts. I really wanted this hot pink one that said "All you need is" and then had the kanji for "love", but it was $21. Yeah, no.

This pink shirt says "A little sick." Idk why?

The button on the left says "slutty," hahaha

Poop!

This shirt...

And because I felt like it, I headed down Takeshita St.

So crowded since today is a holiday

This was a man, guys... He got a lot of weird stares from people

I finally went in one of these! It had clothes for 390 yen, awesome! But was SUPER crowded!

Cute crepe store

This is for my mom. I saw foreigners laughing at it, so I looked and had to take a picture for her

Hats for a "bad hair day" haha

One of the food displays. I wanttttt

Omggggg

And then, again because I felt like it, I decided to venture into Condomania!
Damn, there was some weird shit in there...

XXS and XXL

I like how the Mega Big Boy has an elephant on it, haha

Glow in the Dark + Rilakkuma! "Super Kawaii", guys!

Yes, it is a fun shop

It was getting late. I had really wanted to go to a restaurant for dinner tonight to have more local Tokyo food before I left, but jikan ga nakatta. (I didn't have time). Kazuki had recommended I eat this type of ramen only in Tokyo, but I hadn't been able to. :( Oh well, he'd also recommended monja, so at least I got to eat that!
And anyway, sightseeing > food.
So, I went to the Pokemon store. I thought it was in Shibuya, which is right next to Harajuku, but it turns out it's moved and its new location is back over by the Rainbow Bridge, in Hanamatsuchou! Rawr!

Hanamatsuchou!

 

Cute fire cover on the ground

The Pokemon center!

I got four new regions of Japan on streetpass the day I went to Akihabara and four more yesterday, in Yokohama! Yay!!

Then it was time to head home. I really wished I'd stayed with the 8:30 shinkansen so I could have had a nice sit down dinner. Ah well.
Luckily there was a Lawson's by the Pokemon Center, so I bought one of the strawberry sandwhiches I've been wanting to try and therefore got two pink bear stickers (yay)! As well as the sushi pack I LOVE and an apple.
Then I went back to Akihabara, switched to the subway to go to my hostel and pick up my suitcase, and then left for Tokyo station.
The subway from Akihabara was so crowded, I managed to jump on at the last minute. But it was already overflowing with people, so I came close to being like the girl in my manga and getting my hair stuck in the subway door! Instead, the door caught on my backpack and opened again so I could shimmy my way in.
Except getting your hair stuck in the door can never actually happen because the doors stay open a crack. I know because I was pressed up against them for the entire ride!

Akihabara at sunset

Bye Akihabara station :(

I was almost crying at this point...

At Tokyo station, I wanted to buy Tokyo bananas as omiyage for my host family. But they were pretty expensive (8 for 1000 yen). So I found square bread things with a Tokyo banana picture on them instead that looked good too and they were 16 for 990 yen!

Kawaii packaging!

Then I got on the shinkansen and headed home! I was in the last row so I was able to put my suitcase behind me. Yay! I had no one sitting next to me until the second stop (the one before Nagoya), when a lady got on.

My dinner

 

Back in Nagoya, I updated my train card so now I can go to Sakae for free! Yay!! That wiped out all my money. I barely had enough to pay for it, but I didn't want to pay the 105 yen to use the ATM. Thankfully, I was able to buy it and was left with $5, enough for lunch and paying for my bike on Monday!

I texted Yuko saying I'd arrived at Nagoya, hoping she'd text back and say she'd come pick me up, but no such luck. So I rode back home and walked all the way back home in the dark pulling my huge suitcase. The 7-11 sign I always look for to show me where to turn had been replaced with a new sign! So that threw me off for a second, lol.

When I got home, only Ken was still awake and he went to bed shortly after, so I brushed my teeth and passed out.

 

Tokyo was so amazing! I'm so glad I was finally able to visit the city of my dreams and spend a week exploring it! I really didn't want to leave, but hopefully I can go back in the future!

 

Also, some more Tokyo pix (from Sayaka):

 

At the host club!!

Monja restaurant!

Making my monja with Minju!

On the train to Yokohama!

At the Cup Noodle museum!! :D