Review of Japanese Summer Festival

So I went to the 53rd Diablo Japanese American Summer Festival in Concord as I said I would and now I am going to tell you all about it. It was very hot but they had shaved ice to take care of that. It started at 1pm with a variety of Japanese food to sample. They had sushi, gyoza, shrimp and vegetarian tempura, beef teriyaki, udon and some American food too. There were games for kids such as the bean bag toss, koi pond, lollipop tree, coin toss, etc. They had bonsai (tree display), ikenobo (flower arranging), and a big pagoda. At 2pm we saw a koto performance. It was beautiful music. I liked the "picks" of the instruments better than guitar picks. The kimonos were pretty too. Then we heard the rythmic beats of the taiko drums tell us stories of ancient warriors. I saw a judo demonstration where I learned a lot about the art of throwing your opponent and safely falling. FYI: judo means "the gentle way". All in all, it was great fun and I plan to go back back next year.