My friend who owns the kimono shop organizes a bus trip to Nagahama each year to take a boat cruise on Lake Biwa and watch some fireworks. This year she invited me along!
The streets of Nagahama, known for stained-glass making. Even the light posts are stained glass lanterns!
Lunch is oomi niku. A beef bowl that was quite tasty!
After lunch we decide to try our hand at stained-glass making!!
Yuriko and Gemma pick out their glass tiles.
I'm making a picture frame, and it's all ready to go!
Kerri and Gemma get ready to use their tools!
Step 1: Line all of the glass squares in sticky gold foil.
I'm halfway done. This is trickier that you'd think because the gold foil needs to be overlapping on the front and back equally, and the sticky stuff didn't have much staying power.
Step 2: Arrange glass exactly how you want it (but backwards), and "paint" some clear liquid all over the gold seams.
I wish I could tell you what the sticky gold stuff was or the clear paint, but alas all of the instructions were in Japanese, so I just followed along as well as I could!
Step 3: Put on one goofy glove, grab the heating element in your other hand, and start soldering away!
Everyone is hard at work making their masterpieces!!
Gemma, Kerri, & Yuriko show off their finished projects!!
I would have done this tiger window, but I thought I might run out of time.
Maybe next time I'll make a kaleidoscope!
After all of that intense concentration (it took about 2 hours!), we needed a snack. Or rather, we needed dessert!
Here is my ichigo (strawberry) cake.
Gemma orders shaved ice with azuki (sweet red beans).
Yuriko enjoys chestnut cake and coffee.
Green tea ice cream parfait with azuki.
Kerri shows off her muscles while wandering the streets of Nagahama!
Time to get ready for the boat ride and hanabi (fireworks)!
FYI - I was the fastest person to put on my yukata (we were all in the same room), and everyone was amazed that I didn't require any help. Several people have never seen a permanent bow (like mine) and were quite curious how it was made!!
Yuriko, Gemma, & Kerri change into their yukatas.
So many ways to tie an obi!
Just a few of the ladies after getting dressed.
There was about 30 of us in total, and each man, woman, and child had on a yukata!
You probably didn't get invited on this bus trip if you didn't buy a yukata from my friend's shop!
Ready to enjoy the boat cruise.
And may I present your ride for the evening!!
Here is our boat, and everyone is wandering around waiting for permission to board!
Four friends from the Wine Party: Kerri, Yuriko, Gemma, & Nobue (she owns the kimono shop)
Nobue and her family: Ema (daughter), Toshi (husband), and Kiichi (son).
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Ema is 3, and the extent of her English is "Heeeelllllllooooo, Kerri-chan!". She loves to say it whenever she sees me at the kimono shop (which is every time I go since their house is in the back of the shop).
Eating bento (lunchbox) for dinner inside the boat.
Wind in my hair, water misting my face, and the boat gently swaying... I love being on the water!!
I need to find more friends with boats in Japan!!
By the way, we are cruising around Lake Biwa, which is the largest freshwater lake in Japan.
It's 670 square kilometers, or about 8 times larger than Houghton Lake, Michigan's largest inland lake!
Are sunsets prettier in Japan?
Not necessarily, but I think any sunset from a boat is a gorgeous one!
Finally, hanabi (fireworks) time!
I've seen some pretty sweet fireworks shows in my time, particularly those sponsored by Toyota in E'ville and Cinci. So most fireworks shows don't get me too excited anymore. In fact, I fell asleep a couple times during this show. I'm pretty sure the rocking boat and beers helped me along the way though.
Here's a quick video, if you want to judge for yourself. (You must go directly to the blog to view it.)
