... or perhaps its moved on to the far more humid sister- Summer. Nevertheless, Spring or at least flowers were in the air last week in Hiroshima at the 30th annual Flower Festival. I am lead to believe that this event happens every 1st week of May, and this year it was the 2nd one I attended. Funnily enough the "flowers" seem to be the participants of the parade... unless you count the one huge upended cone display at Peace Park and the numerous intersection-beautifying mini gardens. Its a great time for hanging out with friends or family, getting a bit of sun, and enjoying the weird and wonderful; be it the parade itself or the stalls full of goodies that are bountiful along its route. Providing more weird and wonderful are the stages dotted around the place with any amount of different performances on the go, both local acts and national stars. This year Hiroshima locals were treated to the comedic talents of "Hard Gay"... picture if you will an ex-wrestler dressed in a short PVC black jumpsuit with a zip front, glasses Elvis would have been proud to own, and a cap like that biker dude from the Village People. An absolute icon for the youth of Japan (ages 8 and up- as witnessed by me in the form of many an impersonation by kids in my classes), and the bane of every parents existence it seems. If you'd like to check out some of his antics look him up in Google Video, you may not understand him but you will laugh- he is a crazy bugger.
For more information on the festival check out www.gethiroshima.com. London has TNT for the antipodean masses, Hiroshima's equivalent is "gethiroshima" for the "gaijin" (non-japanese) population, both overflowing with useless and useful information, and surprisingly frank classifieds... Welcome to my world...
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