spirits - Lili on the Loose

Travel Missteps: Left Over Right

In 2004, I was spending a few weeks in Japan as a cultural ambassador with my town's Sister Cities delegation of two chaperones and 9 other students. Beyond experiencing the sites of Tokyo for a few days, we all wanted to get some souvenir shopping done before we headed to the smaller, non-touristy town which was our sister city. I had read in a guide book that a store in Tokyo called "Oriental Bazaar" had a great selection of many typical Japanese souvenirs at cheaper prices. So I guided the group there. It was perfect, they had so many great

Travel Missteps: I’m on Fire!

By Lili|June 24th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2004, Asia, Bon Odori, Chino, exchange program, fire, fireworks, hanabi, Japan, Lake Suwa, Nagano, Obon festival, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, spirits, Suwa, train, yukata|0 Comments

Fireworks while camping. As I've written before, in the summer of 2004 I went to Japan through a Sister Cities student exchange. The bulk of the trip was spent with a host family in Chino, Nagano Prefecture. This period in late August is during the Obon festival where Japanese honor the spirits of their ancestors. Its sort of like if you combine the American aspect of Thanksgiving where everyone goes home, Mexican Dia de los Muertos, and every possible firework related holiday. There are many components of the Obon festival. One key piece is the Bon Odori dance, that is danced by