This morning I woke up to an unusually warm day. Today I was all over the place. I brought my coat to my first stop, but quickly found that I didn’t need it. After lunch, I dropped it off at home. Then, I grabbed a long sweater and scarf . I had been complaining about the cold. Looks like someone heard me and turned up the heat.
I’ve never liked the winter and my dislike for the season is just getting worse as I get older. Winters in New York were almost always slushy messes.
Nagoya has milder weather, but insulation here can be lacking in places. So, I have to find little ways to keep my spirits up, or I’ll lay down and give up the ghost until things thaw out.
Our second stop after the Oni Matsuri was Yoshida Castle. It was only a ten minute walk, though we took our time.
Because the day we went was a national holiday, it was unfortunately closed to the public. We did get some nice group pictures though.
Last weekend a bunch of coworkers and I went to the Toyohashi Oni Matsuri. My coworker D organized our outing, since he used to live in Toyohashi.
First we met up at Nagoya station and then tool the train to Toyohashi station. From there, we rode a street tram to the venue. It was very crowded, but it didn’t take very long to get to our stop: Toyohashi Park.
After that, we had about an hour to kill before the main event, so we browsed the stalls and filled our stomachs.
A major part of the festival is the red oni pelts people with candy and flour for good luck. We could see signs of his handywork for blocks around the venue. My coworkers Em, Sol, and R got a heavy dose of luck this year.
The event centers around a red oni character battling against a green tengu character. The two have what is essentially a dance battle, before the oni is flees the shrine, while covering everyone he sees in flour for the before mentioned good luck.
There is also a black oni who pats peoples heads for luck. Many of my coworkers received a pat.
Finally, the flour started to fly. I stood in the back, hoping to avoid the worst of it, though he got me during his second passby.
Afterwards, our gang regrouped to grab a few snacks, before we moved on to our second location for the day.
The forecast calls for warmer weather this week. Fingers crossed!
Last week, we had one or two really warm days before it got really cold again. It was nice while it lasted.
