Japan: Gifu Festival

As part of the Gifu Festival, Sam and Nina's soccer club paraded through the neighborhood. (Nina is behind another girl and hard to see, but she is blowing the whistle as the parade goes by her house.)

Onlookers donated money, so the parade was both festive and a fundraiser for the soccer club. (That's Sam on the left, with the whistle).

Downtown, there's a bigger parade.

 Also a big flea market, where the girls got these kimonos.

The girls were excited about their kimonos, but for the most part they enjoyed a brief visit to this park more than the festival activities.