Lantern Festival

Festivals in Japan are definitely one of the things people look forward to when coming to Japan, especially in summer. This summer felt heavy and was filled with too much work. Compared to last summer, I managed to travel more and meet more people.

Returning to the topic of festivals, the only two festivals I have ever participated in in Japan are the fireworks festival and the lantern festival. The name itself portrays what the festival is about! I’ve been to several fireworks festivals but only one lantern festival; therefore, this festival is a special memory for me.

When I was invited to the event, I was excited; well, any event in Japan feels exciting, but this is my first lantern festival, so it felt much more exciting. In my head, I was picturing something like the Tangled movie where lanterns would float in the air. But when we arrived at the venue, it was surprisingly a floating lantern on the river! My bad for not even searching for it, but it was still one of the most beautiful scenes I had seen. Of course, no iPhone could capture what my eyes saw that night.

Of course, looking at the lantern was a special moment, but going back home, missing the last train, having to ride a taxi back home (don’t even guess the taxi fare), and taking a very tired picture of us at the end of the made it much more memorable. Now, if I want a reason to smile or laugh, I will just look back at the pictures.

Last but not least, trying something new and unfamiliar will always feel awkward or weird, but we can always learn something from it and create indelible memories in our lives.