akita kanto matsuri 2007

Today I went to the AKITA KANTO MATSURI, one of the three biggest festivals in Japan. I was invited by WAPIE (Akita Women’s Association to Promote Cultural Exchange) to join them and experience the festival together while doing some cultural exchange stuff. It was very kind of them. Before going to the festival, we gathered at this cozy hall where we were given a brief but quite detailed explanation about what the festival is all about, ate some great tasting Japanese bento and did some traditional Japanese dance. Then it’s off to the main menu for the day.

The festival is a bit different from the ueda matsuri that I participated last year. It’s still a parade-style festival, but it’s crazier. They got like girls drumming moving taikos (Japanese drum) while the guys tried to balance paper lanterns attached to stairs of bamboo sticks (see picture); when you see kids aged 10 to 15 years old doing these amazing tricks trying to balance those humongous stairs of paper lanterns, dance and do other stuff all at the same time, you can’t help but felt amazed. They must have practiced hard.

While we were watching all the craziness that’s going on the streets, the mayor’s wife invited us to the VIP observation post to see the mayor of akita. What an honor. Ok, about the mayor’s wife, we had a little conversation earlier at the cozy hall that we gathered before. I didn’t even know who she was until she said in perfect English pronunciation: “my husband is the mayor of akita.”

After the parade is over, we took pictures, and greet our guider goodbyes. I forget to mention that there were 3 other foreign students (all Malaysian girls) in my group and when it’s time to go back, we separated with me going home alone, again. On the way back I met with a group of Chinese (mainland Chinese) foreign students and we decided to go back together because we were staying at the same dormitory. I mean the building is the same; of course our room were different!

These 3 girls (the Chinese foreign students), they were always being nice to me especially this one short girl, but unfortunately I just can’t remember their names! It’s just too hard for me to remember! So whenever I speak to them, I always avoid conversations that might need me to pronounce their names. I’m so rude.

We were riding together (riding a bike, not like ‘riding’ in a sexual context ok?) when I bumped into tsushima-kun (my current classmate, this kid is a genius!) waiting for okada-kun (another classmate, and he’s kinda horny, always talking about sex) in front of the mini-convenience shop near the train station. My plan after seeing the parade is to go to tsushima-kun’s apartment to copy some assignments, so I decided to join them instead and let the 3 chinese girls go home by themselves, exposing them to the dangerous night full of stalkers and sexual offenders.

I asked tsushima-kun to take me to his apartment, but before going there, we stopped by aki’s apartment, to have a little chat, okada-kun said. I’ve never spoken to aki, so I thought this might be a good chance for me to know him and be friends. So aki’s apartment is tidy and clean. Maybe a little too tidy and clean for a typical male teenager’s room.

Anyways, we chatted. Then aki took out a bottle of Japanese whisky and drank the devilish liquid with okada-kun until their face turns red. Okada-kun started to act funny and asked me weird questions. Suffice to say, a lot of the questions is about girls and, of course sex. So I told them that I’m a sex god. And they believed my saucy stories! I could be an erotic novel writer that focuses on lonely housewives! It does not matter whether I’m telling the truth or not because come tomorrow, they were too drunk to remember what I said. Kids.

After that, tsushima-kun took me to his apartment, I copied the necessary documents and went home to sleep after a very successful day. Not only that I have watched a big Japanese festival in a VIP seat, I made new friends and was able to find a solution for my assignments. I need to wake up early tomorrow because I need to write that means goodnight in japanesethis boring assignment about Japanese welfare; so…. Oyasuminasai ! (means goodnight in japanese)