Sunday, my Japanese class went on a field trip to Karatsu for the annual autumn festival celebrated there. Approximately 10 students of very mixed Japanese language ability and three teachers (with their boyfriends) attended.
I really enjoyed myself. There were a lot of food stalls with the predominant theme being “food on a stick”. As you’d expect, that meant a lot of yakitori. But not just yakitori, there was corn on the cob, crepes, omelets, and even a lone kebob stall. There were also games where you could win prizes. The highlight was the parade where 14 “teams” associated with a particular float came running by pulling their float.
There were many families in attendance. Also quite a few young people really dressed up for the occasion, not to mention what appeared to be a number of dates. There were three young women (pre-teen) who were standing next to me along the parade route. They were attempting to be surreptious (but not succeeding) in examining/talking about the hair on my arms. I was very, very amused.
Afterwards, our group went to a restaurant and enjoyed a nice communal meal. Plenty of good conversation, although I’m afraid I need back off on the cream puff stories. I’m likely to develop a reputation for being a glutton.
Some sample pictures are below. I’ll try and post a slideshow tomorrow.

