Smarmy Butlers and No Yakuza

Maybe it's a sign that I am getting older or maybe it's a sign that I try not to live in a fantasy world; regardless though, I don't really understand the draw of butler cafes. Butler/Maid cafes are growing in popularity in Tokyo, and their premise is that you go and pay to be treated like a prince/princesses (they also serve food). I went to one of these a week ago and couldn't really get into it. The food was good, but our butler was a bit smarmy for the setting. The one that we went to had foreign butlers (our's was from Wheaton, IL), and you could pay to practice English with them. Maybe that's the draw?

I also went to the Sanja Matsuri festival at Senso-ji in Asakusa this past weekend. This festival honors the three deities of the shrine. Groups carry mikoshi (portable shrines used to carry deities) around the neighborhood, and you can spend the afternoon grazing at the numerous food stalls surrounding the temple. The place was packed, but we didn't see any yakuza (Japanese gangsters) openly displaying their tattoos and missing pinkies as we had hoped to. Here is a picture of one of the three main mikoshi that were paraded around on Sunday.

Finally, my fellow foreign teacher, Kurt, is getting ready to return to the States. His last day of teaching is Wednesday, so some of our staff went out to dinner last night. We ate at an Okinawan restaurant (Okinawa is kind of like Hawaii is to the US). The food was great, and the people at the table next to us (behind in the picture) were playing traditional Okinawan music on the sanshin (three stringed, banjo-like instruments) at their table.