Japanese Autumn Festivals

POSTED BY DANNY CHOO On Fri 2008/11/07 13:50 JST in Japan
Tis the lovely season of Autumn and there be many "Autumn Festivals" taking place around Japan right now. Went to one last week around the corner which had many games n goodies for the kids.
Here we see folks crowded around a (name-of-thingy-goes-here-because-I-forgot) which has a handle on the side - you turn the handle and a ball will drop out of it. Depending on the color of the ball, the player gets a certain prize. If the color of the ball is brown, the player will get a slap in the face.
Watching my neighbor play in her band with the rest of her class.
Grabbing some Okonomi Yaki for lunch. Kind of like a pancake - its got egg, octopus and dried fish.
Free popcorn given out.
In this game, one places the ball at the top of the sloping table. The ball falls down hitting the pins and changing trajectory. Depending on where the ball falls, one gets a prize or a slap in the face.
However, no matter where the ball falls, everybody wins because the young lady attendant was bery bery bery bery cute.
In this game, one has to tilt the board with the steering wheel to get the ball onto the other side without it falling through one of the holes. Prize for the winners and a club to the kneecaps for the losers.
In this game, one has a small hoop at the end of a piece of string which the player has to use to get bottle to stand on end. Prizes for the winners and a fork through the eye for the losers.
Grabbing some onigiri with Nendoroid Yako.
Make an excuse to take another pic of that girl - I need pics of the prizes of course.
A pharmacy with its goods spilling out onto the pavement - unmanned and very common in Japan to have this sort of display. Probably would not work in Hackney London.
The Okonomiyaki place that I talked about a few months ago - looks like they did quite well and are still around.
Free Tako Yaki - octopus balls.
Bet you didn't know octopus had balls eh?
How many times have I used that ^^;
Standard shoot-object-with-lethal-bow-n-arrow. Prizes for the winners and a whack in the forehead with a nail studded plank of wood for the losers.
The winners...
The throw-ring-and-get-it-to-land-on-prize game. Prizes for the winners and a stab with sharp pencil in the ear for losers.
Always find myself saying how peaceful and harmonious it is in Japan.
Kids with their bags of winnings.
Mega retro TV spotted - still works.
Dont expect the toy shops over here to sell any figures - most of them stock cheap mainstream stuff like Anpan Man, Kamen Rider, Puri Cure and the like.
In this game, one jumps on the yellow board to stop the ball which is just about to roll down the slope.
Prizes for the winners, a mouth full of camel droppings for the losers.
Free Shiu Mai up for grabs.
Mmmm. Shiu Mai desu. Cant wait to eat some good food in Singapore next week.
The most popular free food up for grabs was the ice cream.
Traditional Japanese drink Ramune - its got a glass ball in the bottle.
More food - not all of it free though.
Through some of your blog posts, I notice that Japan type festivals are held in different regions. Noticed some in Brazil, Malaysia and Singapore so far. I don't recall of any back in the UK though. Japan type festivals in your neck of the woods?
Many people ask me about Japanese alcohol but I don't drink which makes me the worst person to ask about the subject.
Folks over here are good at cleaning up after they are done and separate rubbish into their respective combustible/non combustible bins.
Yako seems quite happy.
Is Japan the only place where they can get away selling these chocolate bananas without being arrested?
This game is called Kingyo Sukui...
Players are given a small hoop covered in thin paper which they use to scoop up a gold fish from the water.
When the hoop has been in the water for too long, it goes poof like this.
I see this all the time but never pay attention to it. Folks carving something out of something.
Yakitori - grilled chicken on a stick.
A girl attempts to stop the ball from rolling away but kept jumping even before the ball was released ^^;
In this game, folks have to guess the weight of the pumpkin. Prizes for the winners, head force dipped in a bucket of ice water for the losers.