On Saturday, I was too exhausted to do much. I certainly didn’t work on my Halloween costume, which was getting worse and worse in my head. My brilliant plans to be a mukade, or a pagoda had long since fallen through due to a busy week, and absolutely no motivation to create anything. I had settled with the costume idea of being Britney Spears. An ugly black sundress, oversized sunglasses, and some straightened hair were all I would need. It was simple. Around 5pm, I grabbed my heaps of things for Leigh’s’ Halloween party: extra futons and blankets (which took up the majority of my small car), my Halloween costume, my kimono things for
the festival on the following Sunday, and general overnight items. I arrived as a few of the first people had donned costumes. Claire was dressed as a very unprofessional nurse, Leigh was half in her costume to be Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Steve was carving out a few pumpkins on the floor of the kitchen. As more guests arrive, we all changed into our costumes. Ruth was dressed as the Queen of Hearts! She had made her own costume out of felt and large, traced photocopies of an actual playing card. It was one of the most creative. Steve changed into his amazingly offensive Tanuki costume. A Tanuki is a small red panda like animal that is used in a lot of Japanese mythology. Most noticeably in the mythology, it is said to have over-sized male genitalia. I don’t think I need to go into his costume any more.
The party commenced and a lot of fun was had! I won’t go into details, as it was a blur of delicious pumpkin muffins, candy, and Yoshida bread. The costumes were generally wild and well thought out, aside from a few last minute very uninspiring costumes (a MasterCard commercial was by far the worst one). As I managed to stay “in character”, my Britney costume was generally well received. One of my personal favorites was the 6’9” American guy, Lonnie, who had dressed up as a Viking. The tiny Japanese people in attendance (the Yoshidas and some people’s teacher friends) thought he was the most amazing thing they had ever seen in their lives.
We all went to bed early into the morning and shivered the night away. It’s been getting very cold in the area at night, and the fact that we all had to share a scarce amount of futons and blankets (despite my efforts) didn’t help the situation.
October 21st, 2007 – The Kimono Matsuri in Amanohashidate
Two hours later, I found myself at the Yoshida’s house putting myself into a beautiful turquoise kimono adorned with rainbows, birds, and clouds in beautiful colors. Along with me was a very sleepy group of JETs also trying their best to put on the kimonos and stifle some very contagious yawning. Jannie (the Aussie girl from Kaya) had one a peach-colored kimono that did wonders for her skin tone. Leigh, the hostess of the party and one of my good friends here, put on a cream colored kimono with autumn leaves and berries. Liz, one of my best friends in Japan, put on a straw colored kimono that made her hair look even shinier than usual. Steve and Jer (the boys) had on neutral blue and brown men’s kimonos that suited them very well. They found them to be extremely comfortable, whereas the girls and myself were struggling to shuffle gracefully in our excessive silk layers and zoori shoes. Driving in a full kimono and obi (done masterfully by Kumi Yoshida) was as ridiculous as it sounds. However, despite the absurdity of the situation, we all ended up safely and soundly at Amanohashidate. Amanohashidate is one of the top three most beautiful viewing areas in Japan, I am told. It is a natural land bridge across a breathtaking bay. According to Japanese myth, this is where the gods gave life to Japan. Most other countries are formed through eon
s of erosion and volcanic eruptions. However, Japan is not like other countries, and it was formed through the gods. It’s in all the history books if you want to double-check the facts. The Kimono Festival (Kimono Matsuri) was to be held in this area. We arrived amongst throngs of happily dressed men and women, children, and teenage girls. The younger girls had the most festive and colorful kimonos of us all. The little girls were decorated in bells and fancy hair ornaments. I believe the bells are to delight the children into ignoring their discomfort and longing to go home and play instead of walking around a boring traditional festival all day long. It seemed to work!The girls jingled down the paths and giggled throughout the day. The group of us went around to check points gathering stamps while taking in all of the kimonos and natural beauty around us! We did not go unnoticed. A group of six gaijin Americans and Aussies walking around in
traditional Japanese garments sticks out as much as a horse in a three piece suit might. The photographers in the area (for local newspapers and perhaps hobbyists) went wild when they saw us at the tea ceremony area. As we sipped our matcha tea (the traditional tea powder stirred into large bowls and emptied in three gulps) we were suddenly surrounded by photographers. Steve, Leigh and myself were especially photographed on our bench. One photographer had the nerve to come over to me and adjust my kimono without permission. Naturally they were interested in our winning personalities and backgrounds, and not by the novelty of Caucasians in Japanese clothing. The curiosity became so overwhelming in the afternoon that photographers began to pose us. At one point we were posed on a bridge, where we were asked to walk slowly and solemnly so they could take pictures. The “Kimono Queens” of Japan (two young ladies with tiaras and banners) came and joined us. The photographers tripled as it was definitely the strangest occurrence of the day. 
After a long day of wandering, collecting stamps, taking pictures, and riding around in rickshaws (one of the highlights of the day), we were exhausted. We took a quick break in a pool of hot water outside of a local restaurant, where we soaked gratefully. The zoori had not been kind to our feet. We also went to put in our finished stamp books, which gave us the chance to roll a lottery ball machine in hopes of winning prizes! When I rolled it, a small pink ball rolled out. I became suddenly surprised when the staff behind the tables began to applaud and ring bells. What had I won? My hopes of a two person getaway to Shanghai were somewhat dashed when I was handed 9 kg of fancy, Japanese rice. Although, Lugging my grand prize around was as satisfying as it was burdensome. We left the festival, changed back into our normal clothes, and had a very quiet, sleepy dinner with the Yoshidas. After that, it was time to go home and sleep as much as possible before starting the next busy week back at school. The lack of sleep was worth it. This weekend was definitely one of my most memorable yet.
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