Upon arriving at the festival and making our way from the parking garage, the first cosplayer we happened upon Lemon Bell Cosplay, who was dressed in a baseball player cosplay and was accompanied by her friend who was wearing a Japanese school girl costume. If anyone out there knows if these are from a specific anime please let us know.
This was my parents introduction to cosplay firsthand, seeing characters from animes, such as Pokemon, and Naruto. They also were exposed for the first time to how much intermingling of Asian and French influence there was in some costumes including Japanese parasols with berets. They also were “exposed” to some of the more traditional non-specific cosplays, such as Nekos, Lolita fashion, and Transformers.
This was my parents introduction to cosplay firsthand, seeing characters from animes, such as Pokemon, and Naruto. They also were exposed for the first time to how much intermingling of Asian and French influence there was in some costumes including Japanese parasols with berets. They also were “exposed” to some of the more traditional non-specific cosplays, such as Nekos, Lolita fashion, and Transformers.
One of the exhibits that I found most interesting was the sugar sculpting, called amezaiku, where a master sculptor created intricate flora and fauna, including monkeys, pandas, and a koala, as well was a flower, and dragon.
Between our first arriving and the sugar sculpting, was a long wait to gain access to the Japanese street food, Takoyaki, a fried ball of batter filled with delicious octopus. We found out later that there were two booths, but we fell for the trap like everyone else and tried to get them at the first one we saw. They were yummy, along with our canned coffee, but the wait sort of made it less fulfilling. The vendor was making them from scratch as fast as they could but was having a hard time keeping up with the demand for these tasty morsels.
1/66th scale model of my car, a Sun Fusion Toyota FJ Cruiser
We also perused through the vendors and found one that caught our eye, they were selling a 1/66th scale model of my car, a Sun Fusion Toyota FJ Cruiser, yes the model is right-hand drive and has the standard features of a Japanese sold unit, but I had to have it as an addition, to my “garage,” making the collection now at four.
As the afternoon progressed, we decided to take a break and take in the rhythmic booming, like thunder of the Taiko band performing in the courtyard nearby. Their coordinated drumming was hypnotizing. While loud and boisterous was not painful to the ears.
Our day came to a conclusion with my parents meeting our friend Sara Sundae as we enjoyed a chicken teriyaki skewer, which also was the last food item available as the festival came to an end.
