Photos taken by Nicholas Yee (Yale University), Student Correspondent for CET Japan, Summer 2024
Yodogawa Fireworks Festival
Hanabi, otherwise known as fireworks, are a hugely popular spectacle in Japan, and especially at the Yodogawa Fireworks Festival. On the banks of the Yodogawa River between Juso and Minamikata, I ventured with a group of CET and OGU students, as well as thousands of locals, to watch one of the best fireworks displays I’d ever seen.
Festivals in Japan are also accompanied by numerous food stalls, which we took advantage of to try various snacks, from karaage (fried chicken), frozen mikan (a kind of Japanese Mandarin), kasutera (Japanese castella cake), and more! Chris pictured here, is munching on tamagosenbei—a fair food consisting of a cracker, egg, and sauces.
Osaka’s Largest Festival
The week prior, Osaka held its largest festival, the Tenjinmatsuri, at Tenjimbashi. The festival features a (rikutogyo) land procession—pictured here, a boat procession, an innumerable number of food stands, and a fireworks display which we saw from two different locations.
Cool fruits and vegetables were the best to beat the summer heat, but to fill me up on festival food in preparation for the long day ahead, nothing beats the Osaka specialty—okonomiyaki (Japanese Savory Pancake)—pictured above, with dollops of tangy sauce and mayonnaise.
Japanese Baseball Game
I had the fantastic opportunity to watch a Japanese baseball game at Kyocera Dome, home of the Orix Buffaloes. Watching with fellow CET student (Colin – Left) and OGU student (Taiga – Right), we watched a close game come down to the final out as the Buffaloes unfortunately fell to the Chiba Lotte Marines.
The synchronized songs and chants of each team’s supporters’ clubs were enthralling to watch compared to baseball games in the US, and we were also able to purchase refreshments from the numerous costumed attendants around the stadium.
The End of a Summer…
As my time at CET is coming to a close, I wanted to take more time to take in the more peaceful part of Osaka in which we resided. In these photos, you’ll see the common sights around my commute from Komatsu to school in Shojaku.
Living between Kamishinjō Station and Aikawa Station, albeit, slightly out of the way, allowed me to take in a lot more of local Japan than I would have otherwise—crossing bridges, bicycle paths, and encountering the daily commutes of locals. During my time here, I’ve found that the colors in Japan seem to just be a bit more vivid, and the wide-open blue sky especially epitomizes this fact.