Kawagoe Matsuri Festival 2022

Sunday, October 16 

After rehearsal and swing dancing, I went to Kawagoe for the Kawagoe Matsuri! Apparently it had been cancelled for covid for the past few years up until now. 

My friend and I had been planning to go to this festival for months! She lives in Kawagoe and she is the one who told me about it. I had so many things happening on this day, but I was so excited for this festival! I missed the fast express train (fastest without paying extra, that is) by a literal second in the conbini grabbing snacks, and got the semi rapid, which meant I'd be 15 minutes later than planned. My husband, who planned to join up with us later, ended up taking the extra money express so he arrived one train behind me. I met my friend, we walked a bit from Kawagoe-shi station, grabbed some sparkling wine, then husband arrived! We met up and walked around and, wow,  I can't even explain how in awe I was! 

She explained kind of what was going on, and I'll explain it from a total outsider who hasn't yet actually researched what it was about. So. The big wagon thingies that are going along the streets, they like have to pass each other. When they do, they have to stop and 'greet' each other, so the people pulling them have to turn them around to face each other. The wagons have people wearing masks and acting as Japanese monster thingies on them, people playing Japanese flutes and percussion instruments, along with some kind of doll on the tippy-top. Also, the tippy-top can drop down to accommodate the power lines.

We wandered, ate, and drank, then headed back home! 

A cool thing I saw a lot of was Coedo Brewery from Kawagoe is doing a collaboration with my favorite band Acidman. This is the second time they've done this collaboration. The first time was like 4 years ago, when I dragged husband all the way to Kawagoe during a typhoon to get a bottle. I still have it (empty) decorating my living room.

Blog: Because I'm really missing Japan today...one of my trips to Tokyo that I didn't post about yet!

It seems like every single J-fashion blogger that I follow is in, went, or going to Japan right now, and all of their posts make me wanna go back =[  Like, I'm seriously considering a fashion grad program in Tokyo after I graduate.

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I went to up to Saitama for Jer's friend's birthday party, then explored Tokyo a bit the next day.

This part of Saitama is out in the countryside, so lots of farmland and rice fields! You can hear the frogs in the water at night.

These last 2 pictures were the train ride to Tokyo from 2 hours north.

We of course went to Harajuku and went to my favorite ramen restaurant (so far) Ichiran, which is actually a really famous one that we discovered by accident the first week we were in Japan!

Super cute bus! XD <3 Only in Japan....

Nothing beats the feeling of leaving the train station and seeing this before you...all of my favorite things in the world!

I ate at the Wolfgang Puck here and the food was so good!

♡❤♡ Cute fashionable people everywhere ♡❤♡

Yes, CONDOMania is exactly what you think it is....

And here's Ichiran!

You pay for your food and get a ticket outside.

And then inside you customize your ramen!

Neko Man! Still not sure if this guy's cats were real, fake, or taxidermy....

This store is Laline in Harajuku, which is my favorite lotion brand!

I miss Harajuku so much!! I remember one time I went wearing Lolita, and so many people stopped to take my picture! I really want to have more of a chance to absorb and explore Tokyo! I love Nagoya, and got to find so many of it's hidden jewels and secrets, but there's so much more I could do and see in Tokyo. 

We of course also went to Akihabara =] This sign is on an escalator, and I've tried to get a picture of it before, but it was too blurry...this time I got it! This is the only place I've seen this sign.

I love these machines! So many cute things! They have バナナインコ (Banana Parrot)! Now they've come out with a mushroom version and I want them sooo bad!!

Maid cafe! They have like 50 of them all over the place here XD This is the same one I went to the first time I went to a maid cafe in Nagoya.

Akiba at night!

That's all I have for now! There's still a lot I haven't posted from Tokyo yet though, so keep watching =]

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