Last Saturday, Mitsuwa in Arlington Heights held their annual Bon Dance Festival. With the promise of festival food, and some interesting entertainment acts, how could I not go? 
Situated in their normally spacious parking lot, most people were redirected to park in the neighborhood. I got there in the early evening hours, and they kept the supermarket open just a little bit longer than usual. Otherwise, there was a nice mix of people from the neighborhood and parts beyond. 
Now, the eats. First off? Cold ramen. Now that may not sound appetizing if you are used to eating ramen with a nice piping hot broth. But as a festival food, it is not only refreshing, it happens to be quite portable. 
The strips of ham, along with the shrimp and noodles weren't so bad at all, and I made quick work of my portion. After a quick break, I moved on to a beef bowl. You'll note that I'm washing it down with a strawberry soft drink. It's not carbonated at all. I know of all the dishes, this is probably the easiest to make at home, but it's nice to have one ready and waiting. 
There were a number of other food items being sold, like curry bowls, and Hello Kitty approved Yakisoba: 
I just didn't have that much room in my stomach for much more.
Except for flavored ice. It's essentially water, right? RIGHT?Anyway, I did miss out on most of the traditional performances, and they had a lot of different performers throughout the afternoon like this one: On the other hand, I made it in time for Yoko Noge's Japanesque. She typically does jazz/blues, and this new album happens to focus on a hybrid combination between Japanese folk music and jazz. A bit more on Yoko can be found here. Let's close out with some videos! Here are people doing what I hope is more bon dance than line dance:And the band at work. Yoko working a nice bluesy vocal: That plucky string sounds somewhat familiar to some of you right? Yup, it's a good old shamisen! 
Can't ignore the ladies on the drums either though:
They each did a respective solo as well. Shamisen solo!Drums solo! All in all, a pretty fun time. Next up is the Ginza Festival at Old Town. I was hoping to make it for more than one day, but as long as I make it to one, I'll be sure to post a report! 
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Situated in their normally spacious parking lot, most people were redirected to park in the neighborhood. I got there in the early evening hours, and they kept the supermarket open just a little bit longer than usual. Otherwise, there was a nice mix of people from the neighborhood and parts beyond. Now, the eats. First off? Cold ramen. Now that may not sound appetizing if you are used to eating ramen with a nice piping hot broth. But as a festival food, it is not only refreshing, it happens to be quite portable. The strips of ham, along with the shrimp and noodles weren't so bad at all, and I made quick work of my portion. After a quick break, I moved on to a beef bowl. You'll note that I'm washing it down with a strawberry soft drink. It's not carbonated at all. I know of all the dishes, this is probably the easiest to make at home, but it's nice to have one ready and waiting. There were a number of other food items being sold, like curry bowls, and Hello Kitty approved Yakisoba: I just didn't have that much room in my stomach for much more. Except for flavored ice. It's essentially water, right? RIGHT?Anyway, I did miss out on most of the traditional performances, and they had a lot of different performers throughout the afternoon like this one: On the other hand, I made it in time for Yoko Noge's Japanesque. She typically does jazz/blues, and this new album happens to focus on a hybrid combination between Japanese folk music and jazz. A bit more on Yoko can be found here. Let's close out with some videos! Here are people doing what I hope is more bon dance than line dance:And the band at work. Yoko working a nice bluesy vocal: That plucky string sounds somewhat familiar to some of you right? Yup, it's a good old shamisen! Can't ignore the ladies on the drums either though: They each did a respective solo as well. Shamisen solo!Drums solo! All in all, a pretty fun time. Next up is the Ginza Festival at Old Town. I was hoping to make it for more than one day, but as long as I make it to one, I'll be sure to post a report! -- end --