Kanda Matsuri Festival

NB. Photos and edits in purple added 11/06/07

We've mapped our itinerary around Japan to take in as many festivals as possible and were ecstatic to discover that we could coincide our visit with the famous Kanda Matsuri festival in Tokyo.



But first, breakfast at a soba and udon bar -- our first for this trip. I had loved slurping on noodles at the little stand-up places you find at train stations on my last trip to Japan. It was always a cheap feed. Today's breakfast near Ikebukero station didn't disappoint: a huge bowl of soba in sweet stock that fuelled us for the day ahead. Mine was topped with a tempura patty of vegetables. With no English on the menus but plenty of pictures, we were grateful for their system of ordering by numbers.


Ebi kaki (prawn tempura patty) soba 450 yen


Three tastes soba 350 yen


Gobooten (tempura vegetable patty) soba 360 yen


Digging in

We then headed to the Kanda Matsuri at Kanda Myojin Shrine. Lots of fascinating food stalls around the temple (little fruits dipped in toffee, whole bananas on skewers coated in chocolate and sprinkles, okonomiyaki and more) and we admired the elaborate portable shrine and watched dances and drumming performances (Japanese drumming is wonderful and really makes you want to learn it and yell and beat in unison!).


Iron Chef Rokusaburo Michiba on a subway ad


View of Suidobashi from Hijiribashi Bridge, Ochanomizu


Spot the Kanda Festival participant


Rallying the troops


Kanda Myojin shrine


Homemade toffees on a stick


Strawberry in toffee


Roasting nuts over fire


Mikoshi portable shrine


Dancers




Pork belly skewers


Crepe fan club


Okonomiyaki


Final touches


Dog dressed up


Lanterns


BBQ corn cobs


Chocolate-coated banana treats for kids

I loved this idea!


Asparagus, bacon and enoki mushrooms


Salted bbq river fish


Doggie model


We were hot and thirsty. Shaved ice to the rescue!


Blue lemonade shaved ice 300 yen


Drummers


These girls could yell! I bet they could beat anyone into submission
(in rhythmic unison of course)




Mikoshi portable shrine procession


Sponge cakes 12 for 300 yen
(quite plain actually and a little chewy)

From there a trip to Tokyo Bay where we had a major distraction at the 100 yen shop in Tokyo Fashion Town (oh my goodness, the wonderful kitchen gadgets and crockery that can be had for 100 yen! And the amount of Hello Kitty stamped patty pans is quite staggering.


Obento patty pans


Hello Kitty patty pan large


Hello Kitty patty pans small


100 yen shop booty

We finished up at Palette Town in Odaiba which has a huge ferris wheel (there's a ferris wheel everywhere you look in Japan, it seems), video games and lots of car-related distractions at Mega Web. There's an electric car you can ride (200yen and a 40 minute wait when we were there), various VR racing games and you can test-drive different vehicles outside. There are also plenty of cars in the showcase. We made do with a Thelma and Louise-type re-enactment in the showroom Lexus convertible.


Man bag alert!

We loved that Japanese men embrace the man bag.


Telecom Center at Odaiba


Car rides at the Toyota city showcase Mega Web


Car catalogue vending machines at Mega Web


Fuji Television headquarters designed by Kenzo Tange


Palette Town ferris wheel

We had a light dinner at another one of those chain places (we think it's Korean-inspired).


Shinjuku


Our dinner waiter


Pork and vegetables fried combo meal 580 yen

We followed this er, light meal (well we hadn't eaten lunch at all) with a well-earned Sapporo beer and some snacks at an izakaya near Shinjuku station. It's a narrow smoky alley jostling with tiny bars and little grills out the front. In traditional fashion we supped on beers and snacked on sweet teriyaki skewers chosen from the selection available. We had beef and green onion; pork and green onion; tongue; and liver. The liver one was my favourite - sweet and soft and juicy.


A diner in the smoky alley of izakayas


Sapporo beer


Marinated tongue skewers


Pork and scallion skewers


Beef and scallion skewers, liver skewers
15 skewers + 2 Sapporo beers = 3600 yen

Tomorrow we head to Takayama. It's a little break from the big cities for a few days. But there'll be no rest for our ever-curious stomachs!