Between April 29 and May 6, there are 5 national holidays here, dubbed "Golden Week." It's one of the 3 busiest and most expensive travel times in Japan (the other 2 are New Year's and Obon in mid-August).This year on the 29th, "Showa Day," some gaijin (foreigners) and nihonjin (Japanese people) gathered at the park near my apartment for a picnic under the blooming fuji (wisteria). We caused quite a stir since 6 white people together is a very rare sight for my small town.
Many people stared, kids pointed, and grown men brought their cameras over & asked to take pictures with us. One guy just jumped in next to me as a friend snapped a picture. (I'm standing on a step; I'm not really taller than him) :)
We also watched a taiko (drum) concert with performers of all ages. Here's a video:
On the walk back to my place, we saw a grandma & grandpa picking green tea (by hand!). Now is the season to harvest the leaves & the other night I rode my bike past a factory & watched for a few minutes as the leaves were dumped into a huge room & mixed to begin the process of drying.
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