Sorry about the lack of updates lately, I've been pretty busy with getting ready to go, and with Kohei and Mayumi visiting. Went to Gion matsuri last night. Erin got her palm read by flashlight and we saw a Maiko san in pontocho. Then we joined the shijo dori death march. They closed the street down to traffic so all 100 000 of us could wander up and down the street endlessly and wonder, "where are we going?" and "why is everyone walking down this street?". Apparently, there was an ancient Japanese parade float somewhere. yay. Every matsuri I've been to here, Danjiri matsuri not included, has been the same. "Why are they lighting that on fire?" and "why are we crowding around this street corner?". Nothing ever seems to happen at these things. People just gather to look at each other in kimono, I guess.