Takanabe to the Limit

This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Takanabe, a Kadogawa-sized town about forty minutes south of Hyuga for the Takanabe Lantern Festival. I was able to meet tons of students, eat a calzone, and appreciate the glory of lanterns. There were a lot of lanterns. 

The calzone was great too.

If you ever get the chance to see the wonder of the Takanabe Lantern Festival, be sure to arrive early, as you'll be given a lighter to go around the park and light things with (preferably candles and lanterns). It's a fun way to participate in the festivities and let your inner pyromaniac out.

Though we arrived in the evening when the sun was going down, it was amazing how different the place looked after dark...

The lanterns themselves were decorated and colored by Takanabe students. There were hundreds of them, each unique and adorable! If I was a shadier person, I'd take them home for my living room! 

Side note: I definitely did not steal any lanterns.

This one features Jibanyan, a ghost cat, from a show that my students are really really into called Youkai Watch. He says "nyan" after everything he says (much like real cats).

There were even unique lantern statues made by different schools in the area.  Personally, Godzilla was my favorite. 

My favorite part by far however, was the beautiful fire river leading up the mountain. An ALT friend of mine said that she and a few other folks lit the whole thing almost singlehandedly last year! I thought that must have been pretty hard on her back considering the vast number of these things. 

Afterwards, we walked down to the main festival area. Dances were happening, foods were being eaten, I found that delicious calzone. I also made new friends...

...like this dancing drummer who let me drum his drum (not in a weird way).

...and this lion who ate everyone's head. Apparently, if a lion eats your head, you will have a lot of good luck. But I didn't learn that until later.

I was actually really worried at first because, you know, there was a giant lion eating people's heads. It's just a little unnerving if you've never seen lions in the wild.

I'm happy to say that I too finally was eaten by the lion, and I'm still alive to tell the tale.

I've been feeling pretty lucky lately. I wonder if it's because of all this lucky lion business?