Ahhhhhhh.........



I've been back from my Hokkaido trip since Sunday, but I feel like I haven't had any time to sit back and relax until now. Four friends of Kyoko's from when she was living in Osaka came for the weekend and stayed at my place until Monday, I have shishimai practice every night until the festival, which begins sept.16, and work has turned from lazy hours of non-productivity to frantic ass-in-gear mode as school starts up again this week. All of that has kept me on my feet for the last few days, until right now, when I put on some music, sit down on my tatami and crack open a Kirin 'Akiaji', a limited edition autumn beer that is only available for a few months a year. Nevermind that is still hot as any summer I've known; I'm sitting here with a thin veil of sweat at midnight as I write. To the Japanese, summer ends with Obon (August 13-15), the festival of the dead, during which time the spirits of your dead relatives return home for a few days and most everyone gets a few days off of work to go back to their home towns and meet them. Once Obon is over people stop going swimming at the beach, clothes stores put shorts and t-shirts on the sale racks and unveil their long-sleeved fall selections, and 'Akiaji' beer hits the shelves. Meanwhile, it still looks a lot like summer out there...........
One upside to this madness is that 'Akiaji' is good, really good. And with 6% alcohol it will get you there, faster than you might expect.......

Posted: Wed - August 31, 2005 at 12:28 AM        

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