Saturday, September 17, 2011

Hanabi!

I'm going to attempt some bilingual blogging. The Japanese isn't a direct translation, but it's good practice.


I can never go back to fireworks displays in the US. Japan has set the bar so high on hanabi taikai that I'm not sure anywhere in the US can impress me unless there were a display funded by Richie Rich and produced by Las Vegas.
日本のはなびのほうが アメリカのはなびより 一ばん いい です。日本のはなびたいかいは すごいですね。


Hanabi taikai are held all over the country, but the one we went to, the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival, is one of the largest. We met with some friends at the train station and took a bus to the event site.
私たちは すみだがわの はなびたいかいに 行きました。 えきで ともだちと あって バスで たいかいの ところに 行きました。


We climbed Fuji-san the day before, but if we weren't feeling so achy and beat up we would have dressed up in our yukata. Maybe next year.
たぶん 来年 ゆかたを きます。

Like any other fireworks display, there was a large grassy area for people to put down blankets and tarps. Vendor booths along the edges were selling meat on sticks, pickled vegetables, desserts, and yakisoba.
ろ店は やきにくや つけものや つめたい パイナップルや デザートや やきそばを うって いました。


At least before the sun set, it wasn't as crowded as I thought it might be. Later, of course, it got more crowded.
あまり こんで いませんでした。もちろん あとで、こんで いました。

I love the energy of a festival. People are dressed up and excited, it's fun to be a part of it.
(No Japanese version this time, I don't know how to say any of that.)


The fireworks lasted about an hour and a half.
はなびは 一じ間と半ぐらい かかりました。





Pictures are nice, but it's really hard to capture fireworks without video.
しゃしんは いいですが、ビデオは も いい です。

You might think this is the grand finale, but it's not. It's the first segment of the show.
(I can't translate that yet.)



...and another!
もういちど!


If you want to see more, you'll have to visit us in August. Or ask me to post the high-def video Husband took.
(Again, my vocabulary fails me.)


In the US, if there is a festival, trash is everywhere at the end of the night. Here, there is a lot of trash, but it's almost all in bags in piles, ready for collection in the morning. That's just amazing.
日本じんは とても きれいです。

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