HANAMI FESTIVAL

Hello all, well this festival was like 3 months ago now but we think the photos are worth a look. A hanami festival translates to a Flower festival. In this case it was of the Sakura (cherry blossom) We went to a festival in Okazaki with the rest of the Tokai south Teachers. It was a great day out. Meeting at the local Mr Donuts and after stocking up on essential supplies of Beer and food we headed for the festival.

The festival went all day with food stands, beer stands, a Samurai fight reenactment, parade and fireworks. As you can see in the photos people everywhere!!

Here's a challenge for you. Find Me in this Photo. This was taken walking between the river and Castle, took forever to get there but allot of fun. Howard and I found Okonomiyaki and Chocolate covered Bananas on a stick! Only 300 yen, Bonus!!

The cherry blossoms are only out for around three to four weeks and during this period the Japanese go crazy with cherry blossom fever. Japan turns pink, ice dream and chocolate, gimmicks, toys etc are all cherry blossom taste or theme, restaurants have specials and the streets are also pink with the flowers. It really was spectacular. Japanese people spend allot of time sitting under the trees drinking and enjoying the season. It is believed that if a blossom falls on you it is good luck.

Any way enjoy and we will post another blog soon of more up to date pictures. We haven't really done allot here in Kainan yet as we are still getting things right at the apartment and exploring the local sights.