Last weekend

I went up to Nayoro to hang with Mark and Madison on Saturday and Sunday.

 This is the sunflower park.

 It was a very sunny day. This little gazebel was the only spot with shade.

Here's Mark jumping on the Fuwa Fuwa Hills.

 Madison had an injured knee so she didn't get to bounce around. She took a video of me.

After that we went to Nayoro's Water Festival.

 This candy apple stand had a lot more types of fruit than I expected. 

Candied kiwi, mango, peaches, etc.

 The classic goldfish scooping stand. Madison really liked the black ones with the googly eyes. She said she might buy a tank and come back to get some.

FANCY SHOP

 The Bacon

 Here's the water part of the water festival.

 Water guns and water balloons.

 Water based activities perfect for the hot day.

 This dude is dressed like a kappa.

 Me and Madison.

 Mark taking a picture of me at the sunflowers.

 Here I am.

 And then, I'm gone. Art imitates life.

We ate soup curry (my last dinner in Japan) and did midnight karaoke. It was a very nice way to end my time here.

Belly Button Festival

On Sunday night there's the famous Heso Matsuri, located in Furano, the belly button of Hokkaido.

 Everything was set up for a big festival.

 Here's the belly painting area.

 A big pile of fake arms to tie on your waist.

 Here's the belly button mascot, Hesomaru. His nose is the belly button, see?

 Kids getting ready for the children's parade.

 A lot of the kids had characters painted on them. Here's a Kirby.

 Some of our boys signed up to get painted and dance in the parade. It was a long wait, and the parade is an hour long, so I was content to stay out of that and enjoy it at my own pace.

 Kent is ready to go.

 Vetle getting his happi on.

 And here they are, Kent, Vetle, Dominic, and Mark.

 While we were taking these pictures an old lady ran up and slapped Mark's belly, then ran away laughing.

 Here's the children's parade.

 Strawberry girls.

 A happy little apple dude I just happened to pass by.

 The portable shrine, a festival staple.

 A bunch of our JET girls were looking good in yutakas.

 That little boy on the left has the scary face, which was one of the basic options Natalie wanted to see but none of our boys got it. She was happy to see it on somebody.

 A Minion float, because of course there was one.

  There's our boys dancing. Vetle was really into it.

 That one guy had a wolf face and animal hands.

 Hesomaru was there to wave. The poor person inside must have been really hot. At least everyone else got to go shirtless.

 Dairy employees dressed like cows.

 The Avengers were here to give candy to children.

 Some pretty kimonos.

 A lot of the doctors had beaten-up looking faces.

 Lights on these hats made them stand out.

 The ever-present Minions.

 There was one scary Minion in the back. Someone went a bit too far with their painting.

 Some thunder kami dudes beating their drums.

 The boys are still at it, on their second time around.

 A big cute volleyball mascot.

 His name is Vabo-chan.

He's not so round this time because he's Hesomaru on the back.

 There were some guys with fruit-patterened umbrellas and fruit faces. I really like the melon.

 The parade's over, and it's gotten dark.

 Some people who didn't join the parade said they would like to next year, but it seems that it's on the same date every year, so next year it will be a Tuesday.

It's probably the most unique festival I've been to, though there wasn't anything really belly button themed to be found at the food stalls, which seems like a missed opportunity to me.