Clam Hunting in Tokyo Bay

This Saturday we went with my friend from work to Kisarazu on the coast of Chiba Prefecture to go hunting for little clams. Here in Japan they are called Asari and Hamaguri. This activity is really popular here, especially with little kids. It is basically a good excuse to play in the mud for half the day.

Anna enjoyed building mud castles with her friend Koki and all of the adults loved getting our hands on these tasty little creatures. Ove the course of the day I made the erroneous decision to not wear sunscreen. I am paying for this today. I have a great shade of red right now on my neck arms and legs. Also, since I was wearing Crocs in the big mud puddle, I have red sunburn dots on my feet too.

Afterwards we took our bounty back onto the boat and washed them up. We then put them in sea water. It was really cool when we brought them back home. When you looked into the bunch of them they really do move around and like squirting water at each other. Very cool.

2008 Matsusaka Gion Matsuri

Unlike last year, since there was no Typhoon, the Matsusaka Gion Matsuri when as scheduled this year. This time, I was able to carry the Mikoshi with about 100 others for Yagumo Jinja near Bell Town in Matsusaka. The temperature was a balmy 90+ degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I think many would have wished a few more rain drops though, including myself.

The groups for our mikoshi were divided into yellow, red, and blue head bands. Each group would carry the mikoshi for a leg of the journey into the center of the town. My group, the blue group, carried second. The mikoshi is about the weight of a car on your back, even though you have several others helping you carry, when you are about 4 to 5 inches taller than everyone else, you tend to carry much of the wieght.

Luckily, I survived, but I did feel like I would pass out from the heat at some point, so when the opportunity to ditch out the second half of the carry arrived in the middle of the town. I took it. I will try to last a little longer next year if the heat is not so bad. Yeah right.

I also got to help with my daughter's mikoshi carry through the Naka-machi area of Matsusaka. Following that my daughter and her cousins put on thier yukata's and danced with the rest of the town in the "Suzu Odori" or bell dance. We had a ball!