Kawagoe

December 17: Kawagoe
Jill and I didn’t sleep very well, but the girls didn’t wake up until 4:30.
As I was trying to get breakfast ready for everyone. Mitzi stuck her head out of the living room into the kitchen and said, “Is the air moving outside?” “I don’t think it’s windy.” I replied, without much thought. “Is the air moving outside!” Mitzi said again, sounding a bit angry and annoyed. I paused for a moment, walked over to the window and looked outside. All appeared calm. “No,” I said, “ It looks calm out there.” Mitzi harrumphed and bustled past me to the stove and turned on the fan. “The air is moving outside!” she said. Comprehension dawned, “Oh! You mean is the fan on?” The next month is going to be very entertaining…
Meanwhile, the girls enjoyed the sun on the balcony and watched the trains go by. balcony We decided to go to Kawagoe today, as there was a festival on. It involved four large ancient looking floats that rolled back and forth along the streets, stopping beside one another now and then while the people on the floats made noise at each other and some sort of ritualized dancing/acting was going on too.
Mitzi’s explanation: Okay, Uhh, float when the float are like competing each other, showing off, how they can dance well or.. like a fooling around. The float has a district in Kawagoe city, they are very expensive, so some places can afford it but..
Strangely, the official description at www.kawagoematsuri.jp/English/about.html is not much more enlightening, though perhaps a tad more coherent.
The floats were very impressive and it was a marvel that they didn’t topple over. ice cream
float2
float1
Ru perch
During the train ride back it was a struggle to keep the girls awake and the jetlag and motion of the train combined to drag them under. Miwa tired
Miwa was absolutely insistent that we have Ramen for dinner. Bless her little soul! I now have an ally in the pursuit of Ramen!