I was kind of excited going into this weekend. I'd seen posters for Ramen Oh (the competition at Dolphin Port for who has the best ramen), Light and Sound Road (art exhibits by high school and university students lining the road in front of the Kagoshima Art Museum and in Terukuni Shrine, plus live music), Tenten's birthday, and a Food and Wine event. Tenten is the green alien mascot for Tenmonkan, and the arcade was celebrating his 10th anniversary. The signs indicated there'd be a jump room, other activities for children, and maybe a live stage.
I got out of the apartment almost an hour early for going to the English school, to give myself time to hit all of the event locations to see if there'd be anything worth visiting during my mid-day break. I suspected that Light and Sound Road might be next week, but I couldn't recall the exact date (and I hadn't taken a photo of the poster for reference). I swung by Terukini Shrine first, and there was nothing going on there. So, I headed back over to Tenmonkan.
They did have the jump room, but the main focus was on shopping housewives. The idea is that you buy stuff from the area shops, then bring the receipts back to get a shot at the lottery wheel (you turn a crank on a wheel box, and if you get a little red or gold ball popping out, you get a coupon good for up to 10,000 yen ($90 USD) redeemable at the shops). I couldn't find anything else going on related to Tenten, so I walked down to Dolphin Port. There was nothing happening there either, and I went back to Tenmonkan to look for the posters I'd seen earlier.
I could track down the one for the Light and Sound Road, which is indeed scheduled for next Saturday only. But, I couldn't find anything about Ramen Oh. There was nothing on the radio about it, and the owner of the school asked me if it was supposed to be this weekend or not, so he didn't know either. Not sure what was going on with that. On the other hand, the Great Satsumanian Festival, a big 2-day music concert was taking place on Sakurajima, near the volcano, this weekend (cost money to get in). Lots of talk about that on the radio, and most of the taxis in the city were tied up taking people from the main train station to the ferry terminal.
Fall Wine and Food Baru
Conversely, though, the space in front of Lotteria and Yamakataya did have their periodic Wine and Food event. 500 yen ($4.50) for one glass (1,000 yen for 3). While the selections look good, the servings are small for the price. No live entertainment this time.
I was here on my way to the school, at 12 PM, which was too early for drinking before a class, and the tables were closed when I got out at the end of the day. The thing is, I'm not a big wine drinker, I'd rather have craft beer or a good whiskey. So, I didn't have plans for coming back on Sunday just for this.
Mascot Parade
One unexpected thing was the foamhead mascot parade through Tenmonkan, which included Tenten himself, and what I assume is something based on Kamen Rider, or one of the similar power suit TV shows.
He waved at me as they walked by.
I don't know the name of this character. I assume she represents one of the cities in Kagoshima prefecture.
Nothing else big this weekend. The Light and Sound Road should be next Saturday, but I may not have as much of a break then. I'm really wondering if I got the Ramen Oh thing completely mixed up with something else that got canceled, or something.
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