How To Not Lose Your Mind After The 100th Person Asks You For Your Photo.

(From 19th October)

Last weekend was the festival we had all been waiting for – the Kimono Festival in Amanohashidate! We had been organising this with the help of Masako for several weeks and the Sunday had finally arrived that saw Maggie, Rob and I take the bus to Amanohashidate in the early morning to the house of the old Kimono teacher, Yamazoe-sensei. Well it wasn't that simple. We had unintentionally caused a lot of trouble before this day for our host as a few of our friends had also expressed their interest in joining us. We didn't realise they meant they would find their own kimono and we had Yamazoe-san procure kimono for them too, which costs money. We had really mucked up. Yamazoe-san was not happy according to her fellow teacher Imada-san and we were going to have to do more than just apologise. But that was going to have to wait. She had prepared the two kimono for Maggie and I and a hakama for Rob which she and, Imada-san dressed us in. The dressing took over half and hour for me as Imada-san dressed me and asked for Yamazoe-sensei's opinion. There was something she didn't like so everything had to be redone. I wore three kimono layers on top of a pair of tights, a shirt and a binding that was put over my chest, and there were several towels stuffed under the kimono and obi to add bulk around my waist (because fat is sexy or curves are not desirable when wearing a kimono) so it was very heavy by the time everything was on and strapped down with a massive obi, and I had a few minutes to learn how to live without breathing. All throughout the morning Yamazoe-sensei's students came and went from the main downstairs lounge were we dressed, dressing themselves and getting ready for the festival. After an hour and a half (for Rob it was only about 15 or so minutes) we were ready to go and we made our way to the dock for a boat ride around the harbour. As we lined up to get on, we talked with an old woman who was educating us on the etiquette of walking and sitting with a kimono while some guys from the Kinki region TV station filmed us practising. It was a nice short trip to wake us up and start the day. We then headed to the Amanohashidate Hotel to register and they even had a girl who spoke excellent English at the reception desk to explain everything. Here we got maps, coupons for free food and drink and a passport card that had to be stamped at different locations around Amanohashidate to go into the draw for prizes.

I take photos of people eating their breakfast as we sail past the backs of their houses early morning.

We had heard that almost all the other AETs in the area were coming and throughout the morning we met up with the various groups, with everyone in kimono. In the end there were about 15 of us and we headed with the crowds for the kimono parade over the Amanohashidate bridge to a traditional tea house for tea and an-covered mochi. Here we were assaulted by crowds of photographers and while many asked me if they could take my photo or in one case if they could use it in a photographic competition, many didn't ask and after sitting under the trees for five minutes with the little girl I was talking to (her parents wanted to take photos of her talking to the foreigner, which was quite alright) I got shitty with one guy with a video camera who hadn't asked and proceeded to shove his video camera in my and the little girls face so I (accidentally) knocked him as I stood up. After that I took refuge with the rest of the AETs as it was safety in numbers, and vowed not to sit away from the group.

Free tea. Life doesn't get much better.

At lunch we headed back to Yamazoe-san's house for lunch as she had bought bentos from a traditional catering place, and boy was it traditional (fancy). I prefer the modern bentos as they are pretty straightforward with rice meat and veg, but the fancy ones are full of suspicious stuff like fish eggs and weird pickled things.

An image of Rob being adjusted by Yamazoe-san just happens to be in the background of this photo of the lunches we had prepared for us. Way to go Rob.

For the rest of the day we went around the events that had been prepared including our photos taken by a professional photographer to be printed on a calendar and a calligraphy demonstration by a supposed master. She was quite young looking and very eccentric. She ascended onto the stage at the hotel where three massive white boards had been prepared for her works of art, and the Yoshida Brothers shamisen music blasted out of the speakers on the stage. She began mixing her ink and proceeded to smear it all over the boards with her massive brush held in a fist, too fast for traditional style liking and with too wet a brush so it ran everywhere. So this was modern art, apparently. Maggie and I weren't impressed. We thought it looked a lot like our attempts at doing traditional calligraphy. Maybe this was like when Picasso began painting like a child in his master status. She writes kanji like a foreigner in her master status, and she gets paid a lot for it. Maybe it's time for me to get a new job.

I can do way better.

We didn't really stay for her Q&A session, and instead went in search of the elusive jinrikusha (the root word from which rickshaw comes from – which is exactly what it is). We had seen men with short-kimono and wide hats carrying these around, bussing kimono-clad people around the area and went in search of the source point. Finally we found it and in line waiting for our turn we met lots of interesting people in beautiful kimono and hakama. The jinrikusha ride was fun especially the loading method, where you step up into it and have it lifted up and feel yourself falling backwards. It had great suspension so it was a smooth ride and the carrier who was taking us around didn't show any signs of fatigue despite doing it all day. I bet we were the heaviest patrons he'd ever had. On the way we passed some lolita cosplayers of whom Maggie was bent on getting a picture of. We were dropped off quite far away from our starting point as we had no say in the matter but also had no and then made our way back to Yamazoe-san's house so she could rid us of the colourful straitjackets. 

Jinrikusha man puts on a brave face and thanks his lucky stars these heavy gaijin are his last patrons of the day.

We met up with all the other gaijin in the evening in a shallow foot pool outside of the public bath. The water was so warm we ended up staying for an hour talking to some previous Tango JETs who had travelled down for the festival from their new positions elsewhere in the country. Finally we headed back in the cars to Mipple, while I displayed my musical talent rapping all the way to Miyazu. We did our favourite pat-time of dinner at Sankai-ya followed by taiko drumming, claw machines and purikura at the arcade. An awesome finish to an awesome day.

10 points if you can spot me. No, I'm not behind any of the Pikachu heads.