Peace! Ryo-kun gives 4 fingers up to Sanda matsuri. We only caught a little bit of it but enough to see a little fireworks action in the centre of town. I live about 20 minutes' train ride from here and work in Sanda one day a week. Ryo's parents Eriko (above) and Masashi took me and our friend Koji (above) to see some of my local festival.

Boom! The red one is actually a traffic light. Did you know the go light here is called blue, not green? I've read the official explanation why, but can't recall it now. They look pretty green to me!

Just as snow seems to make the icyness of winter that bit more worth living through, the fireworks of summer seem to make the heat that bit more bearable. We are now at a different display. West of Kobe is a place called Kakogawa. I heard that this one is a biggie, so I forked out the dosh for the train ride and saw what i could see. It was a good night.

Sorry, I know photos are never really up to it, but these are more for my benefit than yours, so there! haha. Kakogawa is a river, so I was among a huge crowd lining the banks. It was a nice community vibe, despite the numbers.

I've done a bit of fireworks display design work, yet I had never actually seen a large scale show up close before! It was great fun.

Tim Storrier would have liked this part (Australian painter rather partial to burning bits of rope. I'm rather partial to Tim Storrier's burning of bits of rope).

These bigger bursts were LOUD! I guess you can tell I'd never been to a big show before.

The crescendo.

The queue at the train station! Wah. I chose to go visit Mr Donut and wait a while rather than fight the hordes.

I said Sanda matsuri is my local. That's true, but a more local festival is Arima matsuri. I donned Masashi's jimbei, ready to fight more hordes.

Woohoo! No hordes, just a chilled little party by the river. Nice, huh? I met with friends Oscar and Taro and we had a nice little night out with some geisha...

Well, I'm not sure what the deal is with these ladies. They look like geisha and maiko (apprentices), but the details don't quite seem to be right. I'm guessing they are versed in traditional dance and the like, but they're not actually working maiko. Either way...

a dream come true! haha. I thought I was borrowing Masashi's jimbei. But later he said it was a gift. Too nice... it has a really cool design on the back - will show you later. Anyway, I love it!

There was dancing...

more dancing...

ladies...

more ladies...

and still more ladies!

You can see the nape of the neck is painted all the way up. I'm pretty sure maiko have a pointy shape around the hairline left unpainted. Is it disturbing I should know that? What was that word again...? Oh yes, sukebe (pervert) !

This lady was particularly graceful.

Her face was haunting.

Well, okay... out of focus! But I like these shots anyway - they do capture the magical quality of the night.

Back to reality. Welcome to my front yard - the path to the station. This is a view of summer. The green of the rice is so cool and inviting but in reality the air of this scene is hot and heavy.

This feels so recent, but it's all gone now. Grain harvested, chaff burned and ground plowed. Pests now homeless hop about being gobbled by bigger things, being stepped on and dying of old age (like a few months of life!).

Some other last views of the August summer. We had a summer event at school. This is me with a student who came with mum and siblings - all in their yukata. Behind us is a mural I did.

This is a shot from summer training. Teachers Miki and Sue-yen. Sadly Sue went back to her home of Perth about a month ago. We were in the same apartment block, so we saw each other a fair bit. Hey Sue, if you ever read this - you're missed!

Miki is a rock chick! At karaoke she doesn't need a mike, her voice is that strong - handy for teaching! She sang in a band for a couple of years and is really good. She even makes Linkin Park sound good!

Osaka's a workin' town! Well, take this lovely view in and recall it next time you're driving though the pristine national parks of Sydney, on your way to the northern beaches. This is the forest you see on the way to an Osakan beach! Ugly. But it always fascinates me.

This is a bunch of work friends from Osaka schools plus Taro. We all headed for a beach way south of the city, not far from the airport. In fact to the right of this shot out to sea you could see the reclaimed island that is Kansai International Airport. Not a bad idea - you never hear planes in Japan.

This looks like the cast of some Coke commercial or a Home And Away style show! haha. I think I'll call the series Baywatch - Osaka: Class of 06

Anyway, I'm writing all this wearing a padded jacket and with cold legs... so summer's a memory and winter's almost here. This morning we had a mild earthquake, but I missed it entirely - was fast asleep. Things are good, life goes on, home beckons.