Josh in Japan

well, today was friendship day, and the friendship festival was all weekend here in Yokosuka. the actual festival was today, and the parade was yesterday. i had to work today, but it wasn’t that bad…….

i couldn’t leave work all day, but the wifey and I took the kid to the waterfront after work to watch the fireworks. they were pretty cool, and it was a very long show!

if you’re not sure what friendship day is, it is one of the few days of the year where the base is open to all persons. the public service areas are all open, but the housing, hospital, secured buildings, and other places where strangers shouldn’t be are roped off and patrolled by security personnel. all of the restaurants close their doors, and bring all of their food out to tables set up for outdoor sales…….. since pizza is so cheap by japanese prices on base, there is always a very, VERY long line to get anthony’s (exchange service pizza), and sbarro’s pizza. most of the Japanese people who get pizza wait a good 3 hours in line to get a pie, and it’s one pie per person for each restaurant. you see people walking all around all over town outside of base with pizza boxes in their hands. it’s friggin hillarious!!!!! it’s the one time a year when pizza is affordable for normal Japanese citizens (japanese pizza hut costs on average $35 for one meal, and anthony’s is $11). it’s not just pizza though. they also love the larger sizes of our mc’donalds servings….

all in all, it’s a great way for japanese people to find out how we live on base, and for americans to get a good feeling of what japanese festivals are all about… great time had by all…..