I'm back with another update on my studies and adventures here in warm sunny Japan (very pleasant compared to what I'm hearing from friends back in Pennsylvania!) However, the lovely weather is not the surprise I have in store for this post!
So, over the course of last week, while feeling a little bogged down and bored from classes and assignments, I resolved to reward myself that weekend with a trip into Kofu. For reference, I'm staying in Yamanashi prefecture, Kofu is one train station away (about 10-15 minutes or so), but to that point I hadn't really visited the little city too much. Anyways, the weekend arrived and me and two friends hopped on the train on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon bound for a day in Kofu. Combined the three of us had enough familiarity with Kofu to handle finding our way around, we first stopped at an information booth to see if we could find a map, then got a little sidetracked at a cute French-styled bakery in the station.
Couldn't say no to one of these cute little ghost doughnuts!
After getting back on track we found ourselves being pulled aside to take a survey on tourism in Kofu, which with mine and Anna's combined Japanese (and the kind survey giver's English) we were able to complete relatively well. As we continued our walk around we found several department stores, one was 8 floors with the top floor being a sort of marketplace that had vendors selling everything from food and art to musical instruments and clothes! It was an amazing experience, like being at a fair back home, but all contained to a rather crowded bustling floor of a department store.
Traditional Japanese instruments and sculptures at the 8th floor marketplace.
As we continued walking around we began seeing more and more little vendors set up around us, then we made our way to Ebisu Street (in ancient Japanese history, Ebisu is the God of Commerce, so in honor of that, Ebisu Street is known to be a shopping district in Kofu). Upon reaching Ebisu Street, we were hit with quite a surprise to see vendors packed along the street as far as we could see. We kept walking and passed a group of women in kimono that were absolutely gorgeous (this comes up again toward the end of the trip... Be patient.) We also stumbled upon a small stage where students from various local schools (elementary-high school) were performing dance routines. We got to a crossing and one of the crossing guards handed us a flyer, as luck would have it, this arbitrary day that I decided to go see Kofu, there was an annual one-day festival! We excitedly spent the remainder of the day seeing all the booths up and down the street, which were mostly selling amazing smelling foods or hosting games for little children to play.
A glimpse at Ebisu Street, bustling with excitement and things to do!
We even saw some Halloween decorations.
As the day began winding down, we decided to get heading back to campus, and on the way back we ran into a sort of parade being held by several groups of women wearing beautiful kimono and performing a sort of dance/march.
Part of the kimono parade, I couldn't get over how beautiful these kimono were!
https://www.facebook.com/julia.price.777/videos/444929052364031/?l=378171109621609603
(A link to a video of the kimono parade for anyone that may want to see it.)
We concluded this trip with a much needed caffeine break at a Starbucks near the station (I don't think I've ever had coffee from Starbucks since it's so expensive at home). Then we navigated our way back to the station and heading back to Yamanashi.
Sun starting to set as we walked back to the station.
What a lucky surprise to stumble upon a festival!
This lucky experience was just what I needed actually, I've always associated Autumn with festivals and county fairs from back home and was starting to miss that here. Being right in the middle of this festival completely by surprise has been one of my happiest experiences in Japan so far! So, some advice I can give anyone that may plan to study abroad: Just go with the flow now and then, not everything has to be a big expensive trip, sometimes you'll find the most fun one train station away, at the most unexpected time, in the most unexpected places.
Well, until next time, I hope you all have wonderful adventures and lucky surprises!
またね!
Julia.
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