August 1st to the 5th is the annual Hakodate Port
Festival (函館港祭り). This year celebrates the 157th
anniversary of the opening of the port of Hakodate, and the 90th
anniversary of Hakodate’s designation as a city.
On the first day, there was a huge 花火大会, the scale of
which easily surpassed the one that was organized by Hakodate Shinbun a month
ago. I went with my Chinese 留学生 friends, and we were able
to get what in my opinion were the very best seats, right out into the port
besides the retired Aomori-Hakodate ferry boat (now a museum) 摩周丸.
Thousands of people turned out. The entire harbor area was filled with people.
There were rows of 売店, or booths, selling snacks from たこ焼き to 焼きそば. The weather was perfect. The
cool evening breezing was intoxicating. As the fireworks lit up the sky, I
sipped my fresh Sapporo beer and felt that I could stay forever in that very
moment, it was so seamless, like the flowing of the tides, and so close to
perfection.
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| Me and the Chinese 留学生たち！ |
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| Where we were sitting - perfect view of the harbor |
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| Fireworks!! |
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| The Mashu Maru at night |
The second day consisted of a huge parade that lasted from about 4 in the
afternoon to 9 at night. I actually ran into the parade purely by accident. I
was biking home in the afternoon, when around the ぼにもりや department store I saw crowds of people
standing along the sidewalk, as if waiting for something. Then I saw the
ever-so-conspicuous Cameron Breisch-san, a classmate from D組.
I parked my bike, went to investigate, and was asked if I wanted to see the
parade. I figured, why not?
Breisch-san was there with his host mother, and she came well prepared. As
the policemen began to tape off the road, she took out a blanket for us to sit
on, and FOOD. One of the things that constantly surprise me is not only the
hospitality, but the remarkable interconnectedness of the people of Hakodate. In
this town, people care about one another, and keep other people’s interests in
mind. After we sat down, we let all of the little children that were standing
behind us into the front with their mothers, and started passing around food.
Breisch-san’s host mom first took out three plates of sushi out for us to eat,
then a box of KFC chicken pieces, then cake, and then dried fish strip, all of
which she happily offered to complete strangers who were sitting next to us.
The mothers of the kids in front also took out a huge box of Snaffles
cheesecakes (the best cheesecake I’ve ever had, ever!) and began offering them
to people, all of whom were total strangers. As we watched the parade and
devoured all of the delicious food that was offered, I couldn’t help but feel
totally in love with Hakodate and its wonderful people. Who wouldn’t?
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| Getting ready for the parade |
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| Cute Japanese children! |
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| Apparently the top attraction this year was a Disney parade - the kids in front of me were yelling "Mickey! Mickey!" at the top of their lungs! |
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| Gooby pls |
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| Acctualy is dolan |
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| Delicious cheesecake that I got from a kind mom! |
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| Breisch-san and his adorable host mother |
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| Me and Breisch-san |
On the last day we finally experienced the famous イカ踊り –
the Squid dance! My host family dressed me up in the perfect costume too. All
of us HIFers were registered with Russian University students and actually had
a spot in the parade. Here are the pictures!
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| At the dance/parade! |
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| Weaver-san... Way too excited. Also, what's with the backpack? |
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| Not sure where the sign came from... |
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| I gave Amy-chan my armor to wear! |
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