海の日

ie marine day.

i swear some of these made up holidays are awesome! umi no hi became a national holiday back in 1995. on this day, people are meant to appreciate the blessings of the oceans and to "hope for the economic prosperity of maritime Japan" (wiki). basically, it's all an elaborate excuse to get a day off and go beach!

so in true nihonjin fashion, i went to tsunoshima (literally meaning horn island) in yamaguchi-ken (one prefecture over). i am slackin on the picture taking but perhaps i'll put one up later after i snag one from a friend. it was waimea status except that you have to pay 600Y to get in and also that all of the women were wearing these bikini bottoms which are made to look like you're wearing a thong underneath & that your gstring is showing. wtf. this is apparently a trend. literally like EIGHTY PERCENT of women were wearing them. sometimes i wonder about the trashy fashion that can be found here.

also, i'm sitting reading my book (autofiction!) and this little boy runs up to his mama who's sitting next to me and is like "hey mom! there are gaikokujin (foreigners) in the water! come look!". these gaikokujin are the friends that i have come with and i watch the mama go with her camera, non-subtly take a picture, and come back to sit next to me. this being japanese american thing really pays off sometimes in the "invisibility cloak" department. :)