Akimatsuri - Japanese Autumn Festival

Aly didn't want to be near the giant Hello Kitty, but Saya didn't hesitate!

Trying out Kendama game.

Trying drums.

I know exactly what Saya's thinking.  She is wondering why Anpanman's hands are not a round ball just like in the cartoon.

Sean was very curious about Japanese dancing.  He wondered around like a lion in a cage around the dancers as if he wanted to join in.

Kids each got water balloons called yoyos.

With Ken-san

It's that time of the year again!  It's one of the perks of living in an area with a large Japanese population.  I took Sean, Aly and Saya (sorry again Noah) to a Japanese fall festival held at a nearby community college a couple of weeks ago.  They have lots of booths selling and displaying Japanese related goods and services and many performances such as Japanese Taiko Drums, dance, and demonstrations of Martial Arts are presented across the campus.  Kids get a taste of what a Japanese Matsuri (festival) is like since they have traditional festival game booths and by listening to cheerful harvest dance music in the background.  I get goose bumps listening to the drums and Japanese flutes.  This year, somebody's ears and eyes perked up, too.  Alyson exclaimed, "I know this song!  I danced at this at school in Japan!" and "I know how to do this.  Grandma showed me how!"  It was so neat to see Alyson has a found memory of the real Japanese festivals in Osaka, just like I do. 

The girls wore Jinbei (a traditional casual clothing in Japan) and they looked adorable.  Sean was too cool to wear his and didn't want to wear one this year.  The kids were excited to find Hello Kitty and Anpanman walking around.  I bought a print from a local artist whom I am a fan and took a picture of him with the girls.  His Japanese pop art is quite popular here in the Northwest and I am slowly collecting his works.  I am excited to frame it and put it in the kids' playroom next to his other work I bought a year before.  We stayed there for quite a long time and we were pretty exhausted by the end of the day.  We were ready to hit the couch when we got home and rest our tired feet. 

We are looking forward to visiting the festival next year.  We hope Noah can come with us next time!