Tonshae Festival

Tonight we headed to Honmyoji to see the Tonsae festival. Even though this is my 3rd year in Kumamoto I have never actually made it to this festival before. It was so busy and they were hundreds and hundreds of people making their way up the 200 steps to the shrine and another 300 steps to the top of the hill to see the city views.

Stone and paper lanterns lit the way and it was nice to see the people dressed in their festival best. The stalls were selling grilled chicken, making ice cones and offering the chance for people to win various prizes. (I won an Elmo pen – very cool.)

After the festival Dawn, Minika and Anthony came back to my house and we cooked dinner. We had a good laugh but it was also sad as we realized this would be our last home cooked meal together.