The excitement really starts to grow in July as summer activities take hold in Aomori. You can feel an energy in the air. People are out and about, enjoying cold drinks with friends after work and heading to the beach on the weekends. As the biggest and funnest summer festival in northern Japan (Nebuta Matsuri, covered in my next post) approaches, life just feels good.
For me, one of the first signs that summer has arrived is that I have more chances to watch beautiful sunsets on warm, sunny days. I'm really fortunate to have some great viewpoints near my home for doing this too. Whenever I can, I ride my bike out to the edge of Aomori Bay to catch it before the yellow orb dips below the horizon (Aomori Bay is the southern part of Mutsu Bay, which connects to the Tsugaru Strait, and eventually the Pacific Ocean).
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| Sunset from Aomori Bay, Japan |
Another great thing about summer is going to BBQ parties. I do these with friends all the time during the season, usually going to a nice local beach called Gappo Park (合浦公園, Gappo Koen). Sometimes we head to another beach a little farther away called Asamushi Sunset Beach (浅虫サンセットビーチ), as well.
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| Photo by Yuki Harako |
Towards the middle of the month, a week-long festival takes place called the Yasukata Bay Festival (青森安潟みなと祭り, Aomori Yasukata Minato Matsuri). Named by the popular downtown area near the sea and tourist center where it takes place--it's a free, live music and dance festival.
The main event of the festival is actually called the Japan Blues Festival. What's really cool about this, is that every year the headliners are blues performers from Chicago. Being from Chicago myself, I did chat with some of the band members a little between performances and after the show. It's pretty interesting to hear their perspective about Japan and performing here. They certainly enjoy it a lot, that's for sure. The Blues Festival spans two days, starting on a Friday and finished up late on a Saturday night.
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| Chicago Blues at the Japan Blues Festival, 2013 |
In the days following the Blues Festival, there are many dance performances. These are mostly local dance groups/teams who perform, but in Japan that doesn't mean they are not skilled. Dancing, especially hip-hop dancing, is immensely popular amongst Japanese children and young adults. Moreover, it's not uncommon to see middle-aged Japanese adults involved with hip-hop dancing either.
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| Kids finished up a hip-hop dance performance |
Last year (2012), I actually participated in one of the dance performances. Hip-hop dancing is not really my style, but I gave it shot because it was a team from the gym I attend. I felt like embarrassing myself in front of thousands of people was enough for one year, so this year I simple watched and snapped photos :-)
