Well, haven't posted in a while so I'm sorry about that but today I had a blast. El Paso, Texas is a growing city so I think for the first time ever we had a Japanese Festival hosted by a Japanese cafe called the Japanese Crepe House. They had modern techno Japanese music such as Hatsune Miku. They had both traditional and non-traditional activities. Once I arrived I ran into the owner of a authentic Japanese restaurant in El Paso called Matsuharu. They were selling Yakitori or cooked chicken on a stick and curry rice. I said hi and bought 3 yakitori for me and family, it was sooooooo good! Next I went into the cafe and bought a boba tea and some sushi. I normally don't eat sushi but I had a bite then let my family eat the rest. We stood around doing nothing then decided to play some festival games. I played a game called yoyo fishing (I will post a video so you know what it is). Basically, you take a string with a hook attached and hook it onto another string in a mini pool that is connected to pretty ballons and you can keep the one you fished out. Once that fun was over we played bean bag toss(yup this is non-traditional, but it was fun) I won a fan so my brother helped me so I could win a Hatsune Miku keychain. My friends Donna and Daya whom I go to school with designed fans while I watched a demonstration of Aikido and Kendo. Next was the fun part they told the story of how this festival came about which I will post below then we danced Bon Odori. Bon Odori is fun, I recommend you learn one style since there are many. To close up the day I went to a sushi bar called Akari on Mesa street to have sushi with friends and family ( I can't eat fish so I got one with chicken...I know lame right?). I hope you get the chance to experience a matsuri because its so fun!!!
Tanabata Matsuri (七夕祭り) is a festival which celebrates the joining of the two lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, who can only meet on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month (tanabata means "evening of the seventh"). Separated by the milky way, the lovers yearn for each other and greatly cherish their once a year meeting.
In Japan, the summer time is prime for matsuri (祭り/festival), especially the various famous natsu matsuri (夏祭り/summer festival). Natsu matsuri is best for enjoying time with each other in the warm summer nights and having lots of fun, while eating good food! A wonderful event for any person of any age~
I'm in my Yukata
I won a balloon from yoyo fishing
Me and Tomoko (Daughter of the owner of Matsuharu...my favorite Japanese restaurant in El Paso)
