Homura market @ Outland - Day 2

Early in the morning, Kyoko made Takeshi, Bambi and I draw up a map of the stalls set up.

Our fruit of labour...

Artists' signatures - Takeshi Abe, Cindy Low and Takeshi Seki

The Nepali cafe van was there too. He prepared some really delicious momo (Nepali dumplings) naan sandwiches, which were snapped up so quickly after he lowered the selling price from Y400 to Y200. They were all gone when I went back for a second one ;P

Poi (traditional Maori dance) workshop

Takeshi tried 弓道 kyudo (traditional Japanese archery). I was going to but chickened out after I saw how red his arm was from the bowstring snapping against it.

Kanae's umbrella decoration stall

Mika's accessory and zori (Japanese sandals)-making stall

Homura market @ Outland

For the first time, Kyoko held her monthly Homura market at Outland in Tokamachi.

There was a flea market and various workshops - foot reflexology, storytelling for children, umbrella decoration, etc.

In the evening, we went to a big onsen spa for our bath then returned to spend the night at Outland.

(L-R): Watanabe-san, Kyoko, Takeshi, Bambi

白根大凧合戦 Shirone Odako Gassen (Shirone Giant Kite Battle)

Big 4-day event with many giant kites being flown along the river banks. Some of the kites were as big as 24-tatami mats...these are flown with ropes by teams of more than 20 people! Exciting, but slightly dangerous event!

An exhibit of a giant kite on the street.

Rolled-up kite being carried to the "take off" area

Kite taking off. It's a rather chaotic situation cos the narrow river banks are packed with spectators, pre-reserved eating and drinking tents, and kite teams. You have to be ever ready to jump out of the way when you see a team suddenly charging at you in a desperate attempt to save their kite.

Successful take off! Some crash into the river before even taking off successfully...

The kites are made of paper, so they're destroyed once they're wet. It's a massive operation to retrieve the kite frames from the river...especially if they're entangled with other kites.

Pre-reserved spots where you can enjoy watching the kite battle while dining and drinking under the protection of a roof

Even then, it's not 100% safe as kites do sometimes crash onto the roofs of the dining tents

Many kites in the air...

...teams have to watch their kites carefully. If the line crosses with another kite, they have to quickly switch positions with the other team on the ground to untangle the kites. Very messy.

Dog clad in hapi in the spirit of the festival

Niigata Ramen Expo

Kyoko, Bambi and I went to the 2nd Niigata Ramen Expo at Niigata City! There were 24 stalls from Niigata, Fukuoka, Nagano, Kanagawa and Yamagata prefectures. I was slightly disappointed cos I thought there'd be more stalls from other prefectures.

Large eating area in the convention hall

Long snaking queues at the ramen stalls outside

My tonkotsu ramen (Fukuoka style). It tasted ok, but not fantastic and the other stalls didn't appeal to me, so I had only 1 bowl.

Bambi's 1st bowl - supposed to be tonkotsu style but tastes more like miso ramen

Bambi's 2nd bowl - miso ramen

Kyoko's 2nd bowl (she had the same thing as me for her 1st bowl) - white miso ramen with tons of onions on top *puke puke!*

Me at a mock-up yatai (ramen was traditionally sold at these pushcart stalls)

Kyoko trying her hand at the Nissin Chicken Cup Noodle lucky draw game. She won a packet of instant chicken noodles.

Night view of Niigata City and the Shinano River (longest river in Japan) from the observation deck of Toki Messe Convention Centre

Among the many strange things I see in Japan, this is the first time I'm seeing this...

soy milk cookies that claim to give you F-cup boobs.

Rice planting season begins...

Freshly planted rice seedlings