O-Bon dance and free beer

It is now O-Bon here and yesterday the big bon-dance in the central Odori Koen park started. Lots of people show up in yukatas (or normal clothes) and dance a very simple dance around a central stage where people play drums, flutes, and other things. This goes on for hours.

I like this, and since it is a good chance to use one of my many yukatas, I stopped by yesterday. When I took a short break to check why there were so many e-mails assaulting my phone, and old Japanese man came up to me and said: "Great! You were great. Keep up the good work." When I had finished checking my e-mails and were looking at the other people dancing to try to find a spot where it would be easy to jump in (it was pretty crowded), the same man came up to me and said: "Go go go!" and more or less pushed me into the dance again, haha.

Another man came up to me and talked for several minutes about his love for The Beatles, and which Beatles songs he likes best. Not sure why, but then again, why not?

A Japanese woman came up to me and congratulated me on my choice of yukata (I wore a black one with red embroidery in the shape of cherry blossoms). She also talked to me about various things. She has lived for 17 years in Britain, she said. She is back in Sapporo for the O-Bon (which means visiting the graves of your dead relatives) only. She later found me again and gave me a big cup of beer.