Aug 11 2007
Upgrading my Weaboo level: Mitsuwa Matsuri 2007
So for those of us not so 
fortunate to visit Japan and go to a real festival, the folks over at Mitsuwa set one up for all the locals (and not so locals.) It was very small but it was like almost authentic! I mean I think I spoke more Japanese than English there :D. This is located behind the Mitsuwa supermarket in Edgewater, NJ…you can easily take a shuttle or (as we did) an NJ transit bus from Port Authority in NYC.
So when we got there JP insisted that we eat and the first thing we got was drinks and I was all using my weeabo japanese knowledge asking “ichigo ramune arimasu ka?” and getting a “hai arimasu yo!” and having the guy fish it out of this giant pool of drinks for me. After we paid he even told me “domo!” 
Next we got in this lengthy line for yakitori but by the time we got to the booth it appears this woman was taking names on a waiting list. We didn’t wanna bother so we were gonna get yakisoba - but that also had an insane line..so naturally we went where there was NO line - Gyuudon! What’s wrong with beefbowls? They’re good! JP also got Gyouza cause he’s a hungry man beast.
Next we decided to try some of the games which included the ring toss (which I phailed at), 
yoyo scooping which I semi-phailed at but they let everyone take at least 1 home. I swear I saw this one Japanese woman holding like 7 of them O_O. Finally we did the goldfish scooping, which JP did and also phailed at. I guess when you aren’t raised with this since you are a loli or shota, doing it at this age is impossible.
Some highlights included going to the bookstore there and buying the latest Naruto manga volume and the lady checking me out didn’t speak a word of english. I had to ask her “Credit card tsukatte ii desuka?” and she’s like “aah mochiron desu yo” and while packing my book in the bag she goes (in Japanese) “you understand Japanese?” I said “yes I studied it” and she then said “ahh I don’t know English at all, I don’t study!!” Silly old lady 
Also we went to the Japanese goods store and got ourselves a set for making those cold noodles…or rather bowls for the sauce. We had to use mugs and giant american bowls before haha. I also got tea mugs for my hojicha.
Also compared to the other weaboos 
I was pretty tame. There were numerous fat yaoi fangirls in yukatas. JP said he saw some wearing ones that were clearly not the right size because they weren’t tied properly (or tied at all) and were all open in the front like hoes. Yes we know Americans have bigger boobs than Japanese, and just because an anime character wears a yukata like that doesn’t mean you have to make yourself look like an ass.
Also hearing a 12-14 year old girl behind me go “THIS IS LIKE HEAVEN TO ME! SO MUCH JAPANESE STUFF! I BROUGHT $20 AND EVERYTHING IS SO CHEAP!” I admit stuff really was cheap. The gyudon was like $3 and most games ranged from $1 to $2. I also got cotton candy becuse I like sweet stuff…my dentist is gonna reprimand me in 2 weeks. I was just glad I didn’t see any cosplayers then I woulda had to slap them. There’s a time and place for cosplay…and this isn’t it. (Actually them wearing yukatas already feels like a cosplay to me.) There was a taikou dance and bon odori schedule for 6-8 but I was pretty tired and fried from the heat so we left around 3:45. Overall it was fun and definitely looking to go back again.
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19 Responses to “Upgrading my Weaboo level: Mitsuwa Matsuri 2007”
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Sounds fun! Other than your trendy way of spelling “Fail” an all around excellent post.
Cute mask. I would have gone for something more Hello Kitty, and I assumed you would have gone more Pikachu… but what do I know.
Judging from your picture, a little time in the sun wouldn’t hurt you sweetie. I’m just saying is all. The good thing about flaxen skin is that if you’re ever chased by the police, you can just strip, shut your eyes, and blend in with a nice white wall or patch of snow.
I’m also surprised you don’t get harassed by “pleasantly plump” yaoi fan girls. But I will never lose the image of the poorly tied kimonos.
Big girls need love too.
You know what like no matter how tan I get, it goes back to pale in the winter anyway and I’m back to square 1 so I don’t bother anymore XD
I didn’t know Mitsuwa had a summer festival. Sounds like it was fun. I really hope one of those fat yaoi fangirls wasn’t someone I know, though I have a bad feeling about it.
The worst one was wearing a yukata that was clearly not the right size. At first I thought it was cut in a way to show a little boobage, but when she turned around, the yukata was open between her shoulder blades.
As a comparison, I saw someone at the Port Authority who was going to the festival wearing one of those short yukatas, but hers actually fit her properly.
Ahh. I want the Piplup mask (the blue penguin). I started out with Piplup on my Pokemon: Pearl game. Ha, ha. God, Pokemon is annoying, but the games are addicting as shit. :3
The baby mask made me laugh. It is ironic that you’re wearing a baby mask since most babies annoy the hell out of you.
Yea Kyuupi is like the mascot for Kyuupi Mayonaise which it seems like it sponsors a shitload of japanese dramas & TV shows that I’ve watched hence why I got it XD
There was a Mitsuwa summer festival?!? *tear* Lucky you. I want to catch some fish or do yoyo scooping! If I was there, I would have been like that 12-14 year girl squealing. xD
P.S. JP has hairy legs
Well, I am a boy after all.
Oh man, forgot about this. I think one of my friends mentioned Mitsuwa was doing it this weekend. Oh well.
Anyway, I went to this I think last year or the the year before that with a friend and his family. Good times (aka food was on them). Kinda funny cause we just happened to go to Mitsuwa and noticed it was more crowded than usual. Also kept seeing a lot of people in yukata which made no sense since normally no one is dressed like that. Only after asking around did we find out there was a festival going. LOL
BTW we did stick around for the taikou dance and bon odori that year, which is what you can expect it to be. Interesting to watch but meh, I guess unless you know people in it or are in it yourself, gets boring real fast.
Glad to hear you and JP enjoyed it. It was pretty fun (if ungodly hot and humid the year I went) and I think I ended up spending like $50+ on manga, since the bookstore there at the time was closing and having a sale ^^;;
Oooh. Hinano. New hairdo?
As for the fes, I’d be all over this if there was ever one near.
I went to the Obon festival we have down here in South Florida earlier today. It was fun, but kinda boring since I’ve gone for the past 4 years. It’s at a rather large sized “Japanese Garden’s Museam” thingie, and everytime I go I get confused as museum staff. But maybe that’s because I go around in yukata? And actually a nice one compared to the what other people wear there…
This year I wore hakama which was a bad idea in Florida… 暑すぎなのですよ!
Great, now I’ve gotten the horrific image of a FYG in a badly fitting yukata stuck in my head. Scarred, I am! Scarred! Sccaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarred!
OS> I cut my hair short a week ago cause it was really hot
crayon> yes I tell him that I want to shave them
I also often call him a hairy chikusho (beast)
moy> I figured with the obon dance it would be like that so that’s why we didn’t bother staying. the new bookstore there really sucks they have like no new stuff except Naruto @_@
Tess> Haha museum staff all wear yukatas? Coincidentally the actual people wearing yukatas this year were mostly weaaboos
Digi> I didn’t see the ho one myself but I did see the non ho ones so its not so bad lmao. just bleach your mind!
The only time I went to Mitsuwa’s summer festival, my family won a 500$ gift cert for ANA. We were like LOLOL.
Not sure if the travel agency there is still doing it. That said I haven’t visted Edgewater Mitsuwa in years, and that’s before they renovated the place (so I heard)…
お祭り（maruri）楽しめたみたいで、なによりです。（＾＾
昼間に開催なんて暑かったでしょうね。
お祭りは、涼しくなる夕方からやるものなんですけどね。ｗ
ヒナノさんは浴衣を着たら絶対似合いますよ。へへへ
いやいや着たらぜったい恥ずかしいですｗ
あの太った婦女子みたいになりたくない！！（＞Ａ＜）
Hahaha, Yae i went there
But since my family was in a rush and were like the ones in America are so suckyyyy and left me with the expression -.- (cuz we only go to visit family every 2 or 3 years or so) but my grandmother who was pretty much the one who made the comment was like well since we’re here “why aren’t you wearing a yukata?” and once again -.-” besides i’d feel weird walking around in one haha
ive been going to mitsuwa since i was 5, but i also have to admit the matsuri’s there are getting worse each year
My favorite game is getting the water balloons lol
(Sorry for the reallllyyyy long comment hehe)
can anyone point me to where I can get a kyuupi mask from online ? I have looked around, but cant seem to find any sign of one ! especially here in the UK, perhaps the fact I cant understand Japanese is not helping me at all !
If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be most grateful.
Andy.
[...] me on twitter you may have followed me “live” while I was at the festival. Unlike last year, I didn’t really do much. I didn’t enjoy standing in the heat (especially with all that [...]