August 21st, 2004
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Having a blast, wish you were here…
Sengawa, where I work, is a quaint little community that’s just about as close knit as a town can be in the twenty-first century. They have, among many other niceties, a discount stamp card for their stores, relaxing music played over PA for shopping afternoons, and the annual summer matsuri (festival). Last year, I saw the Power Rangers show and ate yaki soba. This year, I danced in at least seven or eight bon odori, which are dances to celebrate deceased ancestors and their spirits returning to visit their families. (There are countless numbers, from town to town.) Corny and wrong, but if you’ve seen The Karate Kid Part II, you may have an idea what I’m talking about. As I said, it’s a close knit kind of place, I had various shopkeepers telling me how good I was the day after. ::blush::
Anyway, the festival is over the evenings of three days, and the coolest for me was the Okinawa traditional dance. It totally rocked, being mysterious and beautiful (much as Okinawa’s history is). Gotta go there soon.
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Sengawa’s mascot, Harmony Cat and I send our regards.
