Oishii!

Today was a fine and golden day in Matsue: all the snow has melted away (except for a few garagantuan snowmen whose backsides have thus far escaped the sun's scorching rod). It was so warm that one could peel off one's gloves, with not even a marbled cornbeef colouration appearing on one's skin. Perhaps spring has sprung for good?

Sir S and I took full advantage of the weather and raced riverside into town where the Matsue Food Festival was in full swing. We tucked into the local offerings: chizu baru (cheeseballs on a stick); hashimaki (a savoury pancake wrapped around a chopstick handle, stuffed with ginger and sweet sauce and striped with mayo), being devoured by me below; rice and prawn things on a stick (pictured below, with stall owner in white) and impaled, be-crumbed prawns. We also stocked up the pantry with umeboshi (pickled plums) and chilli miso.



After filling our tumkins sufficiently, we sauntered in the direction of Ye Olde Manga Shoppe, passing by many tots wearing diverting hats* and seafood stalls where trussed-up crabs still managed to wave their pincers in gruff protest. I purchased a manga called Emma, an epic tale about a scullery maid daringly showing off her ankles to chimney sweeps in Cheapside, London. It is entirely in Japanese (no helpful furigana** on the kanji!) so I imagine I will get through it at a rate of one page per week.

* All hats featured flopsome ears: kitten and rabbit were most popular.
** Small letters of hirigana, the most basic of Japanese characters, that are written above kanji, the most complicated of Japanese characters, which thus far I'm unable to read, with the exception of "I", "mountain", "rice field" and a smattering of others.