Matsuri

The town where we used live had a festival over the weekend so we decide to go. BabyEbi's first matsuri experience and he loved it. I got out his jimbei from last year and tried it on but I think he has had a bit of a growth spurt and it only just fit so we got him a new one, he looks so cute in it.

We arranged to meet friends there, they are over from Australia for a year and although they have been here many times they have never been for the summer so they have never seen the matsuri either.
The festival centres around the mikoshi (portable shrines) being carried from the shine to the centre of town and back again. These shrines are heavy and therefore the carriers need to drink loads of sake or beer to help them carry it.


We had the usual matsuri food for dinner, yaki-soba, okonomiyaki and I had my favourite, a great big steamed potato with lashings of butter! BabyEbi had his first taste of candy floss. He loved watching the mikoshi go by (and sitting on Daddyebi's shoulders to do so). We didn't do the fish spooning this time (trying to catch goldfish with a paper spoon) but we will probably do it at our local festival in a couple of weeks time. The town also has a big fireworks display but that is held on a different weekend. So we had a late night and we hope for a lie-in this morning but BabyEbi had other ideas and wa up at 6.30am wanting a cuddle!