Bentenjima Hanabi

This weekend, Dustin and Theo biked the Shimanami Kaido. This was the first time that Theo has been on this cycling route and the fifth or sixth time for Dustin. I will try to convince Dustin to write a post about their adventures in the next week. The two younger kids and I decided to stay home, firstly because I was working in the morning and early afternoon, and secondly because that evening was the annual Bentenjima fireworks festival. Our friends, the Oshimas, watched Rosie and William while I was at work and as soon as I returned home, I threw on some yukata and headed out the door.

The fireworks are held each year in Tomonoura and as always, it was incredibly lively and crowded. William was exited enough to add a new word to his repertoire: hanabi, or fireworks. We arrived early enough to get a parking spot, wander around the street stalls, and find a good spot to view the fireworks.

William demanded a photo in front of this firetruck 

Overpriced, unhealthy, but oh, so delicious!

This was my first time to see a chocolate and sprinkle covered banana stand

I thought these Anpanman candy covered apples were great. The lady in the background was busy
making a Hello Kitty candy apple. 

Happy as Larry he was

and totally oblivious to the samurai father and son sneaking up on him

There are a lot of different stalls that allow children to "fish" for toys. At this stall, you pay to get one metal hook attached to a short piece of twisted tissue paper. The object is to hook as many of these balloons without getting the piece of paper wet and losing your hook. Once the paper breaks, you must stop fishing, but until then you can keep whatever you hook. William got one balloon before he got impatient and ripped his hook off the paper for no reason. Maybe he is a bit too young for this game? 

A similar game involves a little plastic hoop with rice paper stretched in between and a collecting bowl. You then try and scoop as many balls, toys, or whatever out of the water and into your bowl before your paper net breaks. There is an art to it: you need to work fast because the paper breaks down quickly once it is wet, but you can't get too greedy and scoop too much. Whatever you collect in your bowl before your net breaks you can keep. 

This stand lets you scoop up goldfish with a paper net which I think is pretty sad.

I thought this mom and her tiny little girl in yukata were so incredibly cute.

William, Rosie, and me

All thoughts of fireworks were temporarily forgotten when William found a new little friend on the sidewalk. It was a funamushi, or sea slater, which was very friendly and docile. It is an oniscid isopod, very closely related to pill bugs, which are actually crustaceans and not insects like most people think. One of William's favourite pastimes is playing with pill bugs in our yard so it was not at all surprising that he found the sea slater so appealing. He discovered the "fun" in "funamushi" by letting it scamper all over his hands and arms, carrying it around, and creeping out anyone who came close enough to see.

I think someone drew on its back because they don't naturally have white markings

Rosie occupied herself by picking up rocks and trying to eat them, one of her all time favourite hobbies.

 And puttering around the street stalls taking in all the new sights.

This was her first real fireworks show and I was curious to see how she would react to all the noise and lights. Thankfully, she shrieked in joy and clapped her hands as each firework boomed in the sky. The boys were always pretty mellow about fireworks when they were babies, so her overboard enthusiasm surprised me.

Looks like we'll have to go to more fireworks shows this summer! 

Roses and Fireworks

Because I was in the last three weeks of my pregnancy, in the hospital, and at home with a newborn during the time my parents were out, we didn't really get around to much traveling as a group. However, the annual Fukuyama Rose Festival and Bentenjima fireworks display both took place while they were visiting and so they did experience a bit of the fun and energy of a Japanese summer festival. I do love a good parade and festival and was glad that Rosie decided to stay put so that I could enjoy it too.

This year, the Rose Festival took place on the weekend of May 18th and 19th. The first day was unseasonably humid and hot, around 30˚C, and there was really only so much walking, watching street performers, and peeking in on craft stalls that we could handle before the boys and I decided to head back home.

the sign in front said "free hugs" and Theo took him up on that offer

This is my favourite street performer by far.  As far as I know, he shows up every year. 

As soon as she finished, someone decided to walk right down the center of her artwork...sigh! 

On the second day of the festival there is a four hour parade from Fukuyama Station to the Rose Park. We trekked out to the Rose Park to check out the blooms and watch the last two hours of the parade. It had rained during the night, so the roses looked especially beautiful with collections of rain drops in the folds of their petals. 

Here are some scenes from the parade: 

and a tour of the Rose Park:

Very Alice in Wonderland

"Rose Fukuyama" which was developed in 1987 in commemoration of the city

The Bentenjima fireworks festival took place the following weekend in the little port town of Tomonoura. The fireworks are launched from Benten Island, just off the coast of Tomonoura in the Seto Inland Sea. Food stalls line the main street of Tomonoura and people find a spot to sit along the boardwalk overlooking the water.

I love festival food. Yum! 

Waiting for the show to begin

A perfect way to start off the summer! 

Bentenjima Fireworks

On the last Saturday in May there was a fireworks festival in Tomonoura. Dustin, the kids, and I decided to go and enjoy the festival decked out in yukata and jimbei. The fireworks were exceptional and Theo informed me half way through: "Fireworks are my favorite, but it's just because I love fire so much." It seems we have a budding pyromaniac on our hands. 

There were a few groups that performed dances before the fireworks started and a ton of street stalls selling all sorts of tasty things. 

We arrived about an hour and a half early, but soon realized that we should have arrived much earlier than that if we expected to get a place to sit. We finally found a spot to sit on the road that had a good view and didn't seem to be in anyone's way. At least we know for next year to arrive super early and have someone scout out some sitting spots right away. Oh, and some folding chairs, or even a tarp would have been nice. 

Regardless of where we were sitting, the boys were pleased as punch about seeing the first fireworks of the season. 

The sun finally went down and the fireworks began to rocket into the sky.

William enjoyed the first 30 minutes or so, but as he got sleepy and kept on being jarred awake by the sound of exploding fireworks, he became progressively crankier.

Theo kept up a running commentary during the whole display, saying things like: "look at all that fire!", "It's so sparkly!", and "look at the giant fire flowers!". He might have been annoying to those around us if they could have only understood his incessant chattering.

 Seeing as we will be missing a few fireworks festivals while we are visiting Canada in July and August, I am really glad that we were able to make it out to Tomonoura and see these.

Rose City

Fukuyama prides itself on being the rose capital of Japan and at this time of year I can see why. There are roses planted everywhere in every shape and colour. According to the city's website, the citizens began planting hundreds of roses shortly after 80% of the city was destroyed in air raids on August 8, 1945 (two days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima). It gave the survivors something to focus on, beautified the newly destroyed city, and created an identity for the new urban landscape that was built in the following years. Now the city has planted an estimated 400,000 roses on public land and hopes to reach one million roses in the years to come.

William the rose inspector

Having a little nibble

Lora the little rose girl

Basically everything is rose themed here in Fukuyama. The city's mascot is a little rose girl who turns out to be named ローラ, which is my name in katakana. In addition to the roses growing just about everywhere, souvenir shops sell little rose shaped cakes, roses are painted on manhole covers and bridges, there is a large rose garden park, and there is the annual Rose Festival and parade.

This year the Rose Festival was on the 19th and 20th of May. The boys were feeling a bit sniffly, but we still managed to head downtown on both days and take in some street performances, eat a few tidbits from the street stalls, and enjoy some of the parade.

The boys were not too interested in checking out the roses growing in the Rose Park so I was forced to walk though and admire them at high speed. There are over 280 varieties of roses planted in the park and there were four varieties that were developed in Fukuyama for some event or another.

Goldfish for sale at the Rose Festival

Yum!

On my shoulders, William had the best view of the parade while tearing out my hair

I found my rose, too bad I don't really like the colour

Theo insisted on getting a mask (Kamen Rider Fourze?) and posing with it in all of his pictures. At least in this one he wasn't wearing it

We also discovered that the city holds rose grafting and pruning classes and distributes free rose seedlings in the spring and fall to any interested residents. I think I might just take advantage of that!