A Short Update

Sorry I've been a little lazy updating!! Here are some snapshots of the last two months:

I went to three festivals in two days: Sept 10th+11th

Ootori Jinja festival, Azabu Juban festival (Andrew is the awkward-looking foreigner) and Nebuta Festival in Tokyo

 I survived a very large, wet and windy typhoon: Sept 21st

 No umbrella was safe (especially when spoked were hurtling at you in the street)!!!

Saw my first baseball game, Oct 2nd

Thank you to Yukimitsu-san for the free ticket!

Camping, Oct 9th

 Illegal camping at a secluded, quiet riverside we found in West Tokyo

 Toshi built a massive campfire using tons of wood washed up from the afore-mentinoed typhoon

 No fishing, but we cooked up some yummy food nonetheless!

Went to Disneyland, Oct 16th (for the Supercalifrajalistic-umpteenth time.. :D)

 Very serious posing for the crew of seven (left) on Splash Mountain, posing in crazy 30'C heat (centre) and meeting fellow British (right)

1 Year Japanniversary!!

Today, September 5th, is exactly 1 year since I touched down on Japanese soil! Unbelievable! Thank you to my friends and family for your support and for keeping in touch! I think about you all every day, but I've had a great year, and I hope to continue with my adventures and learning. For those who don't know, my contract with AEON expires in March, but I may yet stay in Japan past March.
Noteable achievements of the last year:

• Going to karaoke a million times
• Staying in a ryokan (a Japanese Inn) in Kyoto
• Climbing Mt Fuji
• Visiting Toyama and Kanazawa alone
• Snowboarding
• Geeking out at the Anime Convention
• My 24 hours of pure Japanese-ness

I started off the night before with Karaoke in a kid's playroom themed room singing Japanese songs :)

I was awoken the next by the sounds of whistling, drums and shouting! A festival was passing my apartment!

I threw on some clothes and followed the parade carrying a wakoshi (a portable Shinto shrine) to a nearby Japanese garden.

For the rest of my Japanniversary, I had Mexican food, went shopping and ended it as I had started it with karaoke :)

The Teruhime Princess Festival

"照姫 Festival" is one of the largest held in Nerima each year. It's held in a park in Shakuji-Koen, a couple of train stops from my station. It's a festival to mourn the Princess, Teruhime, who drowned herself in the lake in the park after her father's castle fell.

Around a hundred local residents are chosen to play characters from the story in this 23rd annual re-enactment.

There were ninja dancers, sansen players, and traditional cherry blossom dancing to the famous melody "Sakura".

No festival is complete without a song about fire safety with a dancing fire alarm, extinguisher, fireman and fire!!

The park was very crowded, and had a good atmosphere. Many kids had Japanese style yoyos or inflatable swords, and I enjoyed some festival food- tacoyaki (fried balls of octopus). Yummy!

Here are some more scenic views of the park:

Turtles keeping warm in the sun.