2015-08-01, North Biwako Fireworks

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE fireworks.  Unfortunately there aren't too many to be found where I live in CA, but in Japan in the summer there are plenty.  While I was in Tokushima I was able to go to 3 or 4 fireworks shows because they were close by (or I drove with Naoko and Haruto).

I think tonight might be the only one I see this summer but boy was it a good one!  10,000 fireworks were advertised (the one in Otsu has 30,000 but it also has double the crowds and it's about 40 minutes away so I probably won't go).  There's one in Nagahama but it's on Wednesday or Thursday so I can't go to that one.  So I really appreciated the show tonight.  And the fact that I was there with good company - Cindy and Shin san made it even more special.

There were loads of food booths - all the usual things like takoyaki (octopus dough balls), yakisoba (sauteed noodles), yakitori (chicken on sticks), crepes (which seem to be a new standard item), candy apples and of course the most popular - kakigori (shaved ice) since the temperature is in the high 90s and humid.  There were also some things I hadn't seen before like some sort of stew and mochi that was twisted around a hot dog on a stick.  I should have tried that but I was in the mood for a crepe and fried chicken.  There was also ayu (a local river fish) roasted on a stick.  I had a little bite of Cindy's but it was too fishy for me - most river fish is.

Things are just getting started.

Ayu (a river fish) on a stick - salted and roasted over coals.

Cindy enjoying her ayu.

My crepe - yes,an unusual purchase for me but I was in the mood.

Takoyaki

Kakigori - shaved ice.

Some kind of stew, I thought of trying it - if it had been a cooler evening it would have been a little more tempting...

My student Yua.

Balloons (or something) floating in water and candy apples and strawberries.

Powdered toppings for french fries - bbq, nori (seaweed), consoume, yuzu pepper, spicy mayo, garlic, kimchi.

Cute.

The fireworks were set off from barges not too far from shore.  Some were sent high and others were lit right on the barges - sometimes at the same time.  There was also a segment where different firework craftsmens' creations were set off (9 craftsmen) and you could really see the different styles.

Here are some pictures, but of course I couldn't capture the real feeling - sweating in the heat, the delicious smells, seeing all the girls wearing yukata (summer kimono), sitting along the lake watching the sun set and then spending an hour watching the sky being lit with color.

The barges.

As it got darker it got more crowded than this but it wasn't bad at all.
They were expecting 140,000 but there were a lot of places to sit so
no place was too crowded.

Our spot - Cindy and Shin san.

Yeah, it's dark - not that the sunset wasn't nice!

It was wonderful!  Leaving the area wasn't quite as much fun.  We finally made it to the street and after just a few minutes I realized I had a flat tire!  What to do.  Cindy and Shin live in one direction and I live in another.  We debated walking to their apt. - they have a tire repair kit - but it's 20 or 30 min. by bike so probably 3 miles or so.  I thought about walking to the store where I got the bike, which I had to pass to get home anyway, and leaving my bike there until tomorrow when I could take a bus back and have it fixed.  The problem is that the locks on Japanese bikes don't attach the bikes to anything, they just prevent them from being ridden away. But anyone could pick it up at night and put it in a car.  And it would have been a 2.5 mile walk home.  Finally I decided to leave my bike at the store and hope for the best and Cindy and Shin were going to ride home, pick up the car and come get me and drive me home.  I tried to dissuade them of that idea since the traffic was soooo bad, but I couldn't.  In the end, they did come to get me but they brought their tire repair kit and Shin fixed the tire in the parking lot with the light of his headlights.  I'm not sure it's fixed, but I think so, and the important thing is that it got me home.  It was a tiny hole so I'll have to watch it for a few days to make sure it's ok.  And that was my night.  All's well that ends well as they say!  And thank you to two very good friends is what I say!!!