Last year the Yakumo Lantern Parade Festival was held on the first weekend after my arrival in Japan.  The initial shock of the realisation of just how small my ‘small town’ was had started to fade and I was getting accustomed to the town and the climate.  My supervisor told me that there was a big festival with lanterns on the weekend, and that I should attend and participate.  I didn’t really understand what was going to be happening at this festival, but had been told to show up to the Board of Education at 5pm for the pre-event enkai.  What awaited me was all the ‘enkai bento food’ and ‘one cup sake’ that I could consume.  However, I soon learned that I couldn’t consume that much, especially of that cheap, nasty sake.  But, it was certainly one way to make an initial impression on my co-workers.

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