Ono Matsuri

My first real blog-post! Yay, I've finally jumped on the bandwagon!

I wanted to begin my blog properly by writing first about my cross-country drive from Arizona to Iowa, but that's not realistic at this point because so much has happened since I arrived in Japan that I want to share right away, so I am going to be working backwards as chronilogically as possible, which I know doesn't really make sense, but would you expect anything less from me at this point?!

Okay, so tonight, one of my neighbors invited me to go with her, her friend, Junko, and Junko's two children to a Matsuri (festival) in a neighboring town called Ono. At Matsuri that occur during the summer, it seems relatively popular for women and children to wear "Yukata," a special summer kimono. As luck would have it, my neighbor, Ms. Namoto, had an extra Yukata that she let me wear.
My first kimono! I'll be a pro by the time I have a chance to learn the Japanese tea ceremony. :-) I had a choice between the purple and pink/peach kimonos and was having a hard time deciding when Junko's little boy made the decision for me by pointing to the purple one; thus was born my first kimono experience.

Apparently the Ono Matsuri is a bit special in these parts because they bring in professional entertainers. When we arrived, a woman was singing on stage, and a storyteller had performed earlier in the evening. Unfortunately it was raining tonight due to another typhoon moving in from the Pacific, so the Matsuri was cut short, but not before we had a chance to see some spectacular fireworks (Hanabi). Since the festival was cut short because of the weather and we were "all dressed up with no place to go," we went out for noodles at a local restaurant. It was a lot of fun to have a week-night out!