It is literally one train stop from the International Airport, so I learned very early where to go once the program ends =D. Anyway it's referred to as the town of Eels, with numerous restaurants having eel dishes on their menu. Why? Because Narita is located between Tonegawa-river and Imbanuma marsh so eel is pretty much caught throughout the year. Random lesson learned today during lunch where we ate at the Surugaya restaurant. We all got Unagi Bento Boxes. It was really really good, I liked eel to begin with so I was really excited about it. Free lunch is always something to be excited about!!Then after lunch we
wandered around the Naritasan Temple. Although it was a drum festival I was more interested in the Temple structures than the actual people performing so I don't have many pictures of the drummers. Actually I probably have like three shots of them all together. The place was really big with numerous halls and pagoda's. The Great Hall was where the main drum performance was held, but seating was for certain VIP's only. So we got stuck standing on the outer edges, and I got stuck in front of a tall Asian person. WTH? I didn't get to see much of the performance but from what I saw, it was pretty cool.They were mostly female teenagers who performed and they were really into it.
There were also an area surrounding the halls and pagodas that we walked into. It was filled with these stones that had writings on them worshiping deities, but mostly Fudomyoo. We attended a Goma or Sacred Fire Rite at the Great Main Hall today as well. The chief priest was burning Gomasticks and then after people could have some of their personal belongings blessed. Fudomyoo is the main deity of the temple so the Goma rite is performed a few times a day. We weren't able to take pictures of the ceremony though. This is a picture of the three-storied pagoda and me and Rumi. More pictures but I'll probably update on facebook after this weekend. I'm going back to Harajuku to see some cosplay as I am highly curious and to check out more costumes for a costume party next weekend. 
I'm still recuperating from my previous illness but I am definitely doing a lot better than I was two days ago. The fever has subsided and all that is left is my throat. I pretty much sound like a man at the moment. Hot stuff though ;)Finally just wanted to tell you guys about Japan's police academy. They were at the temple today and I was able to take a picture of two of their cutest officers today. It was awesome!
Labels: Narita Drum Festival