My neighborhood had a festival at the beginning of September as the last hurrah of the summer. It was standard Japanese matsuri fair, with a parade of dancers, paper lanterns, and stalls selling toys, masks, and all kinds of food. Did you get a chance to attend any summer matsuri? Though I’ll be sad to see these nighttime parties go, I won’t be sad to say goodbye to the sweltering weather that often went with them. Goodbye summer!

In addition to being matsuri (festival) season, summer seems to be the time for multicultural festivals. In the past two weeks, I’ve attended the Sri Lankan Festival, the Indonesian Festival, the Vietnamese Festival, and the Mexican Festival. Most of these were put on by their respective country’s embassy, so they were quite small. Still, it was interesting to see the residents of those countries living in Japan pour out of the woodwork to attend. Also, it was a chance to eat some tasty food from countries whose cuisine I don’t normally seek out. (Can you picture what Sri Lankan food looks like, off the top of your head? I couldn’t.)

Did you attend any of the festivals? Definitely try to next year if you’re around!