On Saturday we ventured into the city, to Old Town and the Midwest Buddhist Temple for their Ginza Festival. We've been visiting this annual event off and on since the 70s.
This is the view from the entry gate as we walked in. The first Taiko performance is going on. You can hear the drums from several blocks away, leading you to the festival. The weather was perfect. Sunny and warm but not too hot.
We met good friends and their children there and had a great time together. The festival is known for their teriyaki chicken, but we had sushi, udon and edamame instead (along with popcorn and snow cones for the kids).
This is the second taiko performance of the day, when the Midwest Buddhist temple's group performed a number with the Minneapolis/St. Paul group. I'm a huge fan of taiko drumming and take every opportunity I can to attend a performance.
In between taiko there are demonstrations from local martial arts associations (we saw Kendo and Aikido), traditional dancing and music, and other performances. We wandered about looking at the wares for sale (the Ginza is a shopping area in Tokyo), watched the traditional artisans brought over from Japan work at their crafts, and admired the arts on display inside the temple.
