Adventures in Japan

Needs Less Cayene

Maybe this happens in every big city and I am just unawares, but I love how stuff is always happening on Osaka streets. Like the Abeny East American Festival today. We were just out walking today, no real plan, when we passed by a group of people handing out bunches of balloons. There was a bit of a bottleneck and we were stopped momentarily. Cups of hot onion soup were thrust into our hands by girls wearing hats bearing the stars and stripes. We moved off to one side to imbibe and to figure out what the hell was going on. The Abeny East shopping arcade was having an American Festival, that's what was going on. What onion soup has to do with America, I have no idea. But I'm glad there was onion soup to be had, for if we hadn't had to stop to slurp our soup we mightn't have ever noticed that the "American Presentation" was about to begin.

I cannot hope to describe the American Presentation, I can only relate some of what happened. It all started with some guy wrapped in black gauze talking for a very long time about the fact that this was the American Presentation, and that onion soup was available for all who wanted some. Then a girl with a green face and an orange soft serve ice cream cone started yelling "YES!" I guess she was supposed to be the statue of liberty, for when she took to the stage the Star Spangled Banner began to play. Then girls dressed up as cats started kung fu fighting. Then a male Batman and a female Spiderman fought and then hugged. Then a woman dressed all in red drew a picture of George W. Bush whilst "We Are The World" played in the background. Interesting note: Japanese people always colour the sun red. Then E.T. stole Eliot's bike. Then everyone got on stage and started singing a Ray Charles song. It was mildly surreal to say the least.

We walked on and saw a band tearing down their equipment. The Man had just shut them down. That happens all the time. Bands set up just to be shut down. I wonder if it's worth all the effort. I enjoy it, for what that's worth. The buskers don't seem to get picked on. I guess amps are what separate legal from illegal. There are tonnes of buskers by Tennoji station. I walk by them every night. They are always changing, and they all have cute fans.

I like all the buskers, and all their cute fans and all the crazy kids all dressed up all weird, but I think my favourite street performance I've seen was the drummers last weekend. The sound of that drum hits you somewhere between your navel and your spine and makes your ears ring pleasantly.

The American Festival was the best part of our wanderings. It was all downhill from there. We wandered past the nearby zoo. We didn't wander through the actual zoo, we didn't see any actual animals, but we saw how unbusy it all was. Maybe it was the overcast day that gave it all such a negative impression. From there we checked out Festival Gate, the mall with the roller coaster running through it. Also depressing. I'd say more than two thirds of the shops were closed or empty. The roller coaster was running, we'd have given it a spin if the weather weren't so crap. Festival Gate is is right next to Spa World, which is like the Moose Jaw mineral spa mixed with Disney Land.

In the evening, we went up to the lounge and met some new people. I'm tired of typing now so I won't say anything else about them.