Last Saturday and Sunday, the first-ever Japan Summer Festival was held at the Singapore Sports Hub. The event, which had been held in conjunction with the Sports Hub Community Play Day, had aimed to harness better cultural understanding between both the Japanese and local communities with its display of Japanese culture and activities.

I had been there to check out the fun last Saturday and I had a great time, exploring the Festival and soaking up what there was to offer. In fact I must say that I had been having so much fun that I did not realise how fast the time was passing by when I was there.

Meeting Pikachu

I had reached the Sports Hub at about 2.30pm, which had been just in time for the Pikachu meet and greet session. I love Pokemon and I have always found Pikachu adorable, so it was great to have the chance to get really close up and person with the yellow rodent and snap a few photos with him. I pity the person who had been wearing the Pikachu costume, though, as it must have been quite hot inside there.

Unfortunately though, I had forgotten to bring my stash of PokeBalls along. So after meeting him, Pikachu got away from me.

Meeting Domo-Kun

Besides Pikachu, I also had the chance to meet Domo-Kun, the well-loved NHK television mascot in Japan who has become a cult figure.

I had thought that Domo-Kun was really cute too and besides taking photos with us, he also led a Domobics session, which I had thought was very fun and interesting! Domo-Kun was up on stage dancing to catchy tunes and from the foot of the stage, we would follow his movements and steps, getting ourselves fit at the same time. The Domo-Kun led aerobics session was a complete riot!

Eye-poping Performances and Delicious Food

Besides the Domo-Kun Domobics session, there were other performances too, such as the Taiko Drum performance and the Bon-Odori Dance, which were also quite interesting and eye-poping.

Another aspect of the Japan Summer Festival that I had been eagerly anticipating was the food. I must admit, because I love Japanese food. And this did not disappoint, as there were stalls selling a wide variety of foods, ranging from snacks such as ice cream and cookies to hot meals like bento boxes and donburi.

But as I was browsing through the items, I admit that I did think that it was a little strange that there were some Western food items – such as cream puffs and beer, on sale at the Festival too.

In the end, I got a Wagyu beef donburi and an ice cream and both of these were really delicious so I gobbled them up eagerly. As well, I got a BBQ sausage to try too.

I had been interested to try some of the other foods too, such as the yakitori sticks, but due to long queues and large crowds, I decided not to, so that I could spend my time checking out the other activities at the Festival.

Games and Activities for Young-at-heart

These included games based on the typical festival ones that are traditionally played in Japan.

One had been a shooting game, where we had to shoot the targets, and though it too, was fun to experience, I cannot say that I was particularly good at it. I guess that shooting is not really my strength. But at least I walked away with a consolation prize, which was a packet of biscuits.

Another game that I tried out was throwing hoops at the ANA booth set up at the event. This was quite simple – each player would get three hoops and you would throw them at the sticks, forming the outline of the map of Japan. If you managed to loop a hoop around at least one stick, you could get a chance at the lucky dip.

I played this game several times but apparently I was not lucky enough with the lucky dip. I had been hoping to get my hands on the plush toy, but apparently it was not my day.

Exploring Mechandise and Playing Dress-up

There was also merchandise on sale at the Festival and these had included Pokemon themed stuffed toys and collector items revolving around other popular characters in the Japanese culture too.

As well, some of the other booths that I noticed, had included a Pokemon games booth, and a chance for people to play dress up in Yukata costumes.

And I had noticed that the latter was very popular because I could see a lot of people walking around in costume. I noted that some costumes had been styled more elaborately than others, though.

Seeing these costumes brought back memories of my own experiences in playing dress-up when I was in Kyoto, Japan this year.

Having Fun at the Festival

Overall I would say that I had a great time exploring the Japan Summer Festival and I am looking forward to more events like these, at the Singapore Sports Hub.

My only gripe about the whole event? It felt a little bit too crowded for my liking and there were long queues for everything ranging from the food to the game booths so I have to say that this had been a tad frustrating as a result.