Oktubre Festi

Ipinagdiwang namin ang kaarawan ng isa sa aking mga kaibigan na taga-Rusya noong  nakaraang  gabi ng Sabado. Simple lang ang selebrasyon, bumili lang kami ng chichiria at soft drinks sa  convenience store bago kami pumasok sa isang karaoke bar sa lugar ng Takao, Hachioji.

(mula kaliwa hanggang kanan: ang bday boy na taga-Rusya, ang inyong lingkod, taga-Espanya at taga-Ehipto)

Sumunod na araw, pumunta kami sa festival sa Takudai-kampus ng Hachioji. Iba’t-ibang mga uri ng pagkain o ulam na galing sa iba’t ibang bansa tulad ng lutong Hapon, lutong Espanyol, lutong Malaysia, lutong Ehipto, lutong Indonesia, lutong Italyano, lutong Mehiko, lutong Tsino, lutong Pilipino, atbp.

lutong Pinoy – turon at banana shake

Opo, mga kaibigan, meron lutong Pilipino dahil may organisasyon para sa mahihilig mag-aral sa wikang Filipino dito sa Takudai under sa Faculty of International Development. Halos lahat ng mga miyembrong Hapon at Haponesa rito ay nakapunta na sa ating bansa upang maging exchange student sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas-Diliman.

Kasama namin sina Pink Heart at Yellow Star.

Summerfest 2008

As a matter of fact, Japan’s summer is quite annoying. It starts with a gradually increasing humidity and the piercing cry of the cicadas. But why complain when it only lasts for 2 months (July-August) in a year!

On second thoughts, enjoy the festivities that are celebrated all throughout the country like the Fireworks festivals and the Bon Festival Dance. There are thousand of Fireworks festivals or 「花火大会」 (Hanabi Taikai) at every place in Japan. Most of them are hold in every weekend (especially Saturday) during middle of July to middle of August.

Check this link for the Tokyo Schedules of Fireworks Festival 2008. As for the other parts of Japan, click this one (Pasencia na po dahil ito ay nakasulat sa wikang Hapon).

The Bon Festival Dance or 「盆踊り」 (Bon Odori) that accompanies the Buddhist festival 「お盆」 (Obon) or just 「盆」 (Bon), which means welcoming ancestors’ souls and holding a memorial service for the souls. There is a Bon week in August every year, and Bon continues for about a week. Anyway, the dances were originally held to console the departing spirits, but nowadays the original religious meaning has faded and simply enjoyed as entertainment. Local communities hold the Bon-Odori in open public spaces where a platform is built in the center and people dance around it. You don’t have to be a Buddhist to join, wear a ‘yukata’ and join the crowd dancing to the rhythm of Japanese traditional music. At the end of Obon, paper lanterns are lit in the evening and set afloat in rivers to guide the souls back to their heavenly home.

Bon Odori in Hachioji, Tokyo