I was out at the streetcar yards, as the Ohara lights car was preparing to make its rounds of the city to advertise the festival the following day.
Ohara is the big Fall dance festival that usually runs the first weekend of November. The night portion was on Friday, from 7 to 9 PM. I'd been planning on getting out to Tenmonkan right after dinner, passing through Shochu Street on to Streetcar Street for the dancing. Dinner finished at 6:30, and everything was looking pretty promising, except...
I'd been showing allergy symptoms for a few days right after Halloween, with a lot of mucus build up in the back of my throat, resulting in some very serious coughing. The coughing got so hard that it was messing up my voice. I had a couple lessons Friday morning and afternoon, and the students all commented that it sounded like I was coming down with a bad cold. I reassured them that it was just allergies, and that I didn't have a fever, but they all made sure to sit as far away from me as they could. But, still, everything was fine right up until dinner, when I actively started losing my voice. Because I needed to teach 4 more lessons on Saturday, I had to make a choice. Which was to avoid any more alcohol, to talk as little as possible (if not at all), and to take throat lozenges as soon as I could find a stronger American brand (the Japanese throat drops I'd gotten Friday afternoon were really weak). Plus, I swung by the grocery store to pick up a bottle of honey for mixing with hot water. Fortunately, the weather is good right now, with temps maybe between the 50's and 60's. I couldn't quite justify putting a scarf around my neck, but I kind of caved on wearing a zipped up windbreaker.
As it was, I ended up running into a couple people I knew, and they insisted on talking with me even after I told them I had no voice. At one point, I was able to get to a place that was quiet enough that they could hear me whispering. But, still...
Anyway, I had fun walking around the 1 mile parade route, looking for stuff to take photos of, and I ended up with about 25 minutes of sampler video to put on youtube.
Weird costumes aren't all that common on Friday night, but they are a highlight when I can find them.
"Where every night is Halloween."
There were only 4 or 5 foamhead mascots this year, which is down from last time.
It's rough work, having to wear something like this for 2 hours straight, while dancing along a one-mile circuit route.
Any night you can walk away from is a good night.
Direct youtube link, sampler 1
Direct youtube link, sampler 2
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