november third is culture day in japan. we had the oportunity to go to a festival in saga, but we turned it down because there were two festivals in town: a children's festival and a charity event with sumo wrestlers. well....both were disappointments! first we went to the children's festival, where they were selling food (but not cheaply, so we still went to our favorite restaurant), the planetarium was free, and i think they were doing children's crafts in the gymnasium, but i guess we would have gone if hiro was older. we didn't even recieve any free goodies!

the charity event with the sumo wrestlers involved mochi making (and eating) and chanko-nabe (a 'traditional' fodd for sumo wrestlers) but the nabe was sold out and the mochi-making was finished. when we got there people were just sitting around eating, and the wrestlers, all lower-ranking or non-ranked guys, were sitting around behind tables looking bored. so, we left. next year we're going to saga....