弁天島花火

This past Saturday was the annual Bentenjima Fireworks.  After working all morning in a secret job for the BOE (quoting my former bomb-making father "If I tell you what I did, I would have to shoot you") Sarah and I raced home to prepare for Kathy and Lauren's first Japanese hanabi experience.  And what an experience it was.  The weather was perfect.  We wore yukatas, sat on my beloved Bentenjima beach eating delicious festival foods and watched great fireworks.  I can't think of many things that I like better than hanabi in Japan!!

The gaikokujin dressing the nihonjin.  Yep, the foreigner knew more about how to put on a yukata than the Japanese person!

The East meets the West

the crowded streets and food stalls

Cool shot of a takoyaki stand

Candy Apples -- or if I would eat them: "poison" apples

The Bentenjima Torii

Some of my students -- I ran into so many of them!

My beloved Bentenjima

Eating okonomiaki

My favorite photo of the night

After a desperate search, I finally got my chocolate-covered banana!