Day 124, 4 May 2017: Christmas in July...

Day 124: ...so Oktoberfest in May 

Makes sense. Or not. It is official public holiday number three in a series of four during this week. Today's holiday reasoning is perhaps the lamest, but also quite sensible. You see, the holidays used to be 29 Apr, 3 May and 5 May but so many people ended up taking 4 May as a holiday that some years ago it became official. How very Australian Japanese. It also originally had a rather nondescript name like 'holiday between the public holidays' but it is now 'Greenery Day', which is what 29 April, originally the Showa Emperor's birthday, became after he died (on honour of his love of the outdoors...), but they've changed that day to Showa Day, so now 4 May has an official name...confused yet?

Stay there. It helps explain Oktoberfest in May. Or not.

Anyway, I toddled off for a squiz because my plan to visit Kamakura has been postponed to later and because I could have gone to the office but decided not too. 

There was a reasonable sort of atmosphere I suppose, I'm not exactly a connoisseur of the Oktoberfest festivities...

The moon peaking over the units at the bus stop

There were jugglers...

With koala patches (??)

Lining up for the sausages

Clowns

poodles

Something for everyone

Acrobatics

...to music

And they wanted us to remember their names

Lederhosen 

Yeah!

...but I do know that ¥1500-1800 (try about $20 plus Australian) for a beer, even a German beer in a proper stein, is probably more than I'm prepared to pay on a Thursday afternoon. 

There were acrobats on the side which made for an interesting and varied afternoon in Tokyo. But I'll have a beer at home. 

Cheers. 

[Camera : iPhone6S, 3.26pm; Lumix TZ-85, 4.26pm-5.20pm; 4 May 2017]