Sunday, March 23, 2008

Hanamaki Matsuri - birthday blues

Photo taken about 5 years ago at the Hanamaki Matsuri (festival) where lots of schools from the tiny countryside villages surrounding Hanamaki partake in carrying portable shrines through the streets of this well known onsen town. When I am together with my Japanese wife nobody approaches me, but on this occasion she had popped off for a second and almost immediately I was crowded by these curious kids. All very cute in their matsuri happi- coats and happy to pose for a (terrible) photo.
When we were over in Japan last year I overheard some elderly ladies commenting on me being "kakkoi" (handsome or cool) but the days that students came over to me to ask me to pose for photos with them seem to have disappeared in the sands of time. ^_^;;

Camera: Pentax MZ-3