Going to a Summer Festival is fun, no matter what type or where it is. When we headed to Japan, we were lucky enough to arrive day before the Summer Festival! I don’t remember the last time I got to go a Summer Festival in Japan… So we were pretty excited to go and have a little fun with, of course, festival foods! They had a lots of people having fun, with colorful lights and music everywhere, setting up the atmosphere.
They had a yagura, a high wooden scaffold made especially for Summer Festivals, and holds Taiko drummers on the top. Around yagura, they had bon-odori, or bon dance going on. It is like a Japanese version of line dancing. It is fun to watch, and anyone is welcome to join in, learn the dance as you go. We watched them dance to the fun rhythm, it is fun to watch them dance in sync.
All around the yagura, they were cooking up some tasty treats! We were ready to get our hands dirty… They had two kinds of vendors; regular professional festival vendors, and local volunteers who manage their tents and food. It is best to go to the local volunteers’ tents. I think their food is tastier, more friendly faces, and most of all, much cheaper! Their prices can be half the price of the professional vendors. The first thing we got was Jyaga-Butter (150 yen), or potato butter. It is basically a baked potato with butter and soy sauce. It is super flavorful and most of all, comforting.
Then, we moved on to Yakisoba (300 yen). They were cooking up the heat! I commend them for cooking a hot food over a huge hot griddle in a hot Summer evening… Oh, and it is always good to go to these festivals with a few people you love, so that you can share all the food without getting too full too fast.
They had all the yakisoba packed individually, looked like they were cooking for an army! But, they were going fast! I think Yakisoba is one of the main festival food, I must have one when I go to a festival in Japan. And it was tasty! Great flavor and really puts me in the mood for the festivity.
We then got Fried Takoyaki (300 yen). Takoyaki is not normally fried, but they had frozen takoyaki that is made for frying. Since making the takoyaki the traditional way from scratch would take time, it makes sense to have the frozen ones that can be fried quickly. It was hot, moist, and you guessed it, comforting. The packet had eight takoyaki balls, it was more than good amount to share among the three of us.
Then we tried Tama-Konnyaku (100 yen/stick). Konnyaku is a jelly made from a type of potato. It is much firmer than jello, though. It is closer to rubber texture. Tama-Konnyaku made by boiling round-shaped konnyaku in a stock and soy sauce mixture, and served on a skewer. It is usually eaten with yellow mustard, so we put some on before we ate them. It was super flavorful, more than I expected. It was juicy, packed with flavor and great texture!
We tried out some Mizu-Gyoza (300 yen). They are boiled in chicken stock, and topped with some greens and sesame seeds. It had four gyoza in it, and they were perfect for sharing.
They were very tasty, great texture of the wrapper, not too soft, not too firm. The filling was juicy and packed with flavor. Delicious little snacks, and since they were not fried, it felt light. I think it is bit healthier than the regular gyoza since they are not oily in any way.
We also had Oden (200 yen), a classic food to welcome the Autumn. Once the Summer is getting ready to say good-bye, we starts to see oden popping up everywhere. Oden is a Japanese one-pot dish eaten in Autumn and Winter. It has many ingredients in the pot, from boiled eggs, daikon, konnyaku, and fishcakes. They are stewed in a light, soy-based dashi broth. It is fun to try Oden in different areas of Japan, since the ingredients differs in each region. Most areas use their local specialty in their oden. It warms you up from the inside, letting you know that Autumn is near. Very soothing to tummy and to your soul…
But, the most popular item at these even (in my opinion) is Frankfurt Sausage (150 yen/stick). We saw several tents with “sold out” signs on it. Luckily, we found one last tent that still had a good supply of the sausages, thank goodness! I guess they knew everyone would be asking for it, so that they made sure to stock up! The skin was super crisp and snaps as you bite into it. Inside is super juicy and packed with flavor. Each bite was another exciting party for my taste buds. No wonder they were selling out quick!
We were getting so full, and it was getting late. But, right before (as we were exiting), we spotted some tasty mountain of stuff… Even though we were full, we could not resist getting one-last-something. We decided on Akanishi Shellfish on a Stick (100 yen/stick). Since it was getting late and they needed to sell all of their inventories, they gave us two sticks for 100 yen! It was coated with sweet sauce, very tasty. The shellfish was a bit too chewy for my liking, but it was still tasty and it was a good final snack of the night.
I am so happy we got to go to the Summer Festival in Japan, it was so much fun! We had lots of snacks by sharing, and at super affordable cost, thanks to all the volunteers. It was a perfect even to include in our Summer Vacation itinerary… All those snacks somehow taste different at the festival for some reason. The fun atmosphere and seeing big smile on everyone makes the food taste extra delicious!
Summer Festival – Japan