Sendai Sure Loves Festivals

This week marks my third month living and working in Sendai. I've grown very accustomed to my life here in Japan, that this almost seems seamless. During the weekday, I will usually go to work and follow that with the gym. On the weekends, I spend nearly 10,000 Yen ($117) going out and enjoying life.

One thing that I love about Sendai (and Miyagi) is that there always seems to be a festival, no matter which corner you turn. If not a festival, there is at least an event going on that you can bring your friends and family to go experience.

This entry will hi-light some of the festivities I've been to while living in Sendai, so far...

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20th Annual Jozen-ji Dori Jazz Festival

This festival took place within the first two weeks I was in Sendai, and is one of the biggest in the city. During this humid, warm weekend, over twenty stages were set up around downtown Sendai with performances and food vendors. There was a huge turnout of people coming out to enjoy some amazing music, umbrellas and all.

I really enjoyed watching my friend Satoshi perform on stage with his band during the festival, and got to know a few of the other JETs in my city better. This was also the weekend where I purchased my 100 Yen umbrella that has lasted me all these months with little trouble. I have concluded that even the cheap things in Japan are great!

And of course, Kirin Beer sponsors the festival, so beer for all!

Oktoberfest (In September)

Japanese people really do enjoy their beer; enough to even get an Oktoberfest going on in the middle of September! German beer for all, and man was it delicious! I met a lot of foreigners from all over Miyagi during this event, some of whom are my closest friends now here in Sendai. Beer seems to bring everyone together.

The most amusing part of this event was the white people they hired to dance and sing.

Shiroishi Samurai Festival

Outside of Sendai in Miyagi, Shiroishi city held a samurai festival. The name itself sounded really kickass, so I was ecstatic to attend! The festival itself had people dressed up in samurai and ninja outfits. There were dance performances, booze booths, and the omurice mascot dressed up like a samurai. There were samurai battles, ninjas flying down wires, and princesses that needed to be saved. Hmm, makes me want to try out to be a samurai!

Yosakoi Dance Festival

To express how random this was: I stumbles upon this festival when I was leaving my train station in Nagamachi. Sort of a... "So You Think You Can Dance," type of ordeal, it was a rainy evening of various dance performances put on by different groups, one after the other. I ended up staying and watching five different groups perform, and they were all so good. It was definitely different from the hip-hop scene back in LA, but this will do.

Tohoku International Festival

Tohoku University planned an international festival where students from various ethnic backgrounds came to perform, entertain, and share cuisine. I found out about this from the foreign friends I had made in Sendai, many of whom are students. But also because one of my friends, Sherrilee, performed a Caribbean dance for everyone to see, and we got to go on stage and join in on the fun, lol.

I got to try Egyptian food, Iranian food, and Jamaican food today! You ask why I didn't go for the Asian cuisine that I love so much?... well, let's just say the spring rolls looked gross, the boba was warm, and the pad thai looked like it had been sitting out for ages. But thumbs up for the JTE that ended up dancing like she was on drugs during one of the performances.

The theme in these stories? Beer brings everyone together.

Thanks again for reading! My next upcoming entries will go more into living in Japan, working at my school, and the adventures I've had seeing other parts of this country.

Have a safe and warm Thanksgiving everyone! Eat lots of turkey for me, onegai shimasu!