Rokkasho Salmon Festival

It blows my mind that it's already been a year since the last salmon festival. WHAT?! When did that happen? One way or another it did, and once again the annual event came around.

I didn't end up participating this year (I had several dreams in which I was doing the salmon catch, caught one, and then was so horrified and guilt-ridden as it flailed around dying in my grasp that I decided my conscience was telling me to skip it this time). Anyway, I went along for fun and to play photographer (any excuse to take pictures, right?).

This one was thrown by a different town, and I have to say I prefer Oirase's version (which will be held in a couple weeks for those peeps who won't be in CHINA!!). The pools were much smaller, there was A LOT more waiting around, and it was sort of just a bit more... boring. That doesn't mean that WE were bored since we got to spend the time playing with the cutest kids known to man, but without that entertainment- yeah, kinda boring.

Before the catch (all 3 hours we were waiting since we didn't buy advanced tickets and had to get there early), we ate some food, walked around booths, and watched the staged events. There was some girl singing group (who the girls thought were princesses because of their costumes) and a couple of silly little competitions. There was one poor little American boy who participated in the chopstick dexterity contest and was sorely out of his league. It makes me laugh, but good for him for giving it a shot! Seriously, how funny/cute is this?

Anyway... on to the salmon catch! Corey and some of our friends got all set to catch their fish. Everyone got one (some faster than others). Corey's fish didn't go down without a fight. He has the salmon-bite scar to prove it.

Here's a video of the catching of the salmon:

I know what we'll be eating for the next few weeks...