April 5

Today, I got up before my alarm, which is ridiculous for a weekend. I went down to make breakfast and okaasan told me about a lot of places around Nagoya that I should go to. I can’t remember any of them, unfortunately. Earlier this week, I picked up a book of things going on in Nagoya and there were a few matsuri that looked interesting and were going on today. I was so-so on going, but with the rate at which my host mother encourages me to leave the house, I decided to go to the Okazaki Ieyasu Parade. Okaasan told me that Okazaki Koen was popular with gaijin and that it was really pretty for seeing sakura, but not much else. Luckily, she was wrong. I’m really glad I went (and that I didn’t call anyone to come with me, though okaasan suggested it). The only thing that kind of bothers me is the $10 train ride. D: I tried to listen to okaasan when she gave me directions, but I kept messing up when I repeated what she had said, so she wrote it down for me (thank you!!!).

I managed to get to kanayama for my subway-to-train transfer, but I have to say, the trains are a bit confusing, seeing as they list the arrival times of trains at platforms they are not coming to. I had to ask directions of train employees a few times (which I’m getting good at), though they were guys (despite okaasan telling me to ask directions of girls for my safety d:).

I arrived at okazaki a little after 1:30, and I didn’t know where to go, but luckily, I could just follow the crowds. I even found myself staying in the flow of human traffic while I looked elsewhere. I had seen the many people picnicking on the delta in the river of the park from the train, but when I got there myself, it was even more interesting. The park was filled with stalls selling traditional Japanese fair food. I’ve got to list it because Japanese fair food is so cool. First, tako; (squid) you can get it whole on a skewer, or as takoyaki (minced, or tiny tako in a ball of dough, like stuffed clams). Potatoes; corkscrew-cut and deep-fried, normal fries, sweet potato fries, or cut open and covered with butter. Okonomiyaki; hiroshima-style with a crepe on top, or kansai style with the egg throughout. I can’t remember the name, but soft-pretzel-like fish-shaped cakes with an (sweet bean), custard, or chocolate inside are very prevalent. There’s also karaage (fried chicken), oysters, clams, crokets, all sorts of mochi (deep-fried, dango, actual mochi). As far as possible Western foods; cotton candy, corn-dogs, non-breaded corn-dogs, candy fruits, chocolate-dipped bananas. There’s also gyros (just one stall though). I only tried one thing, but it was delicious. It was apparently something made-up, because it had a long description by the booth, but from what I can understand, it’s like mochi with tuna and possibly onion and lettuce chopped up and mixed in. The ball of dough is put on a grill, flattened a bit, and served when it’s a bit brown. It was like a cross between nikuman and okonomiyaki (with no sauce).

As for the rest of the matsuri, there were three attractions to watch. One was the group dance competition. Some of the dances were interesting, and the costumes were pretty cool because they were usually Japanese-y, but it seemed like a cheerleaders’ competition, so I didn’t watch much. The second performance was the horse-back archery competition. That, I must say, was pretty awesome. Guys and girls competed in traditional costume on galloping horses. It was really fast, and if you blinked, you missed it.

The main attraction, of course, was the reenactment of one of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s battles. I had missed the parade of all the members through the streets, but it was okay because I was fortunate to get a center-seat on the steps in front of the battle ground. According to the flyer that gave me the idea to even go, there were over a thousand members in the reenactment. Many of them were children (in full samurai gear) and there were lots of segments including the demonstration of the samurais’ attack methods, a battle between samurai and ninja, fireworks (in the day), and of course; the huge armies themselves. It was really amazing, and I had a lot of fun just watching. I almost cried at one point though I was really enthused (I’m not sure why that happened).

Afterward, there was a huge exodus along the narrow bridge that crossed the river. I found it a bit ironic because the larger bridge down the street was pretty easy to walk. First though, there were pictures to take (especially with Ieyasu). As it turned out, a lot of the re-enactors were not Japanese at all. Some were even Western!

After the battle, I made my way back up the hill that led to the battle ground, and I found myself at the foot of a castle. I decided to go up (since it was so pretty) but not to go into it (because of the entrance fee). I walked around the grounds too and it was a really nice hanami (chance to look at the cherry blossoms) not to mention a pretty area.

When it was time to leave, I had a slight concern in the back of my head about having gotten lost since the park is pretty big, but I had a Joe day, and without really thinking about it, decided that I needed to go in one direction and ended up in at the station. The train ride home was a bit hard to navigate again, but I managed to make it (without even asking directions). When I got home, however, I found I had forgotten my key, and had a bit of confusion with okaasan about it. I called the house phone from the front steps, didn’t get an answer, waited about 20 minutes, and called again, at which point I was let in. I think there was something going on with the phone because okaasan asked me if I had called earlier and had the call answered by someone else, and long story short, trying to explain it all in Japanese didn’t work so well.

Either way, okaasan had delicious food waiting for me and I ate while she watched a drama about samurai (ironic!). The matsuri I was at came on TV at one point, and we got to talk about it a bit. Otousan is coming home tomorrow and okaasan is going to pick him up, so I’ll be on my own tomorrow morning, which okaasan is worried about, but I assured her multiple times that I will be okay.