Cool as a kyuri

This town seems to be famous for a lot of things. Burning haystacks, peonies, fireworks, and now, cucumbers. I have them in my daily breakfast sandwich, and I've gotta say, them's good eating! The locals are right proud of their produce, and each year, they organize a summer street festival in honour of the cucumber god to wish for good health and a bountiful harvest.

The custom in these part is that you bring two cucumbers to the festival and present them to the shrine, where upon you make a wish and get one cucumber back in return. Makes you wonder what happens to all those cucumbers the shrine collects from everyone at the end of the day. Anyway, I was told that you're supposed to eat the cucumber you get back so that you stay healthy for the rest of the year. Hmm, this might just keep me from getting sick on my next few rotations at elementary schools, so I decided to go to the festival decked out in my yukata and armed with two cool curcurbits.

It seemed the whole town had turned up for the festivities, no doubt encouraged by the lack of rain which usually accompanies summer festivals in Sukagawa. The entire main street up until the dodgy part of town (where all the hostess bars are) was flanked by food and game stalls, and every other female I could see was dressed in yukata, including many of my students. In fact it took an inordinately long time to navigate my way to the shrine at the opposite end of the street because I kept getting stopped every few metres by shouts of "Aa! Eigo no sensei da!" This was despite the fact that I'd pulled a Superman and switched out my glasses for my contact lenses and was wearing something entirely out of character. It was actually a little embarrassing, since I couldn't remember who the students were without the handy name tag they have sewn to their school uniforms. ^^;

It seems like people here take the cucumber exchange seriously, because the queue extended a couple of blocks from the shrine itself. Sure, it wasn't the iPhone launch, but it was still impressive for what it was.

That's me ringing the bell and making a wish after getting my cucumber back. Actually, I might have wished for a nicer cucumber since the one I got back was slightly limp from all that manhandling by its previous owner. Well, At least I won't be short of sandwich fillings for the next day or two.

Speaking of food, no street festival would be complete without delectable treats from the many stalls set up for the occasion. In lieu of the tastes and aromas of the evening, here are a few pics of the more interesting offerings:

The Japanese take on the Mexican favourite with a pancake instead of a flour tortilla.


Mmmm, charcoal grilled seafood.

I do so love okonomiyaki, and this batch was fresh off the griddle.

These newcomers were pretty special. They're basically spiral cut potatoes threaded onto skewers and deep fried, then sprinkled with stuff like powdered cheese, salt and pepper, green tea powder and the curiously named "ebi shio", which apparently is prawn flavoured salt. I'm told it does taste a little like prawns. So Japan does have an answer to chicken salt after all. ^^ Judging by the queue at the stall, I reckon this item will make a comeback at the Obon and fireworks festivals later next month. I might give it a whirl (pun!) then too, if I don't get tempted by the grilled squid and fried noodles first.