I’m sure you’ve all been wondering what a dog, an incognito Marvel superhero, and the sacred feminine have in common. The answer is: Green Day in Kokura!

Friday April 29th marked the start of Golden Week, a series of civic holidays that are very close together. The rest of the Golden Week holiday was the Tuesday through Thursday of the following week. We also took the Monday and Friday off, and had a ten-day weekend. April 29th is Green Day, named in honour of an American rock band.

Here’s the sentence where I tell you that this is the third in a series of posts, and point you in the direction of the Introduction, Part 1, and Part 2 just in case you haven’t read them. And one last note before we get started: the sacred feminine makes an incongruous guest appearance towards the end of this post.

Day 3: Friday April 29, 2004

Today’s photos are all from Riverwalk. Why so much Riverwalk? Because it’s a great place for people-watching. We had errands to do that day—one of which was to see a combined exhibition of Picasso’s entire Vollard Suite of etchings and Rouault’s Miserere series—plus there were a couple of acrobats from Quebec performing in one of the open areas of the mall. Having been spoiled by Cirque du Soleil, I got a little bored of the performance, so I decided to observe the audience instead.

Let’s start with a pair of schoolgirls in their casual clothes, hanging out by the candy machine in front of the Riverwalk game center. A game center is Japan’s equivalent of an amusement arcade, only different, but that’s another post. This is opposed to a shopping arcade, which I think I mentioned many weeks ago is a street covered in an arched roof.

These girls had just walked out of the game center. I think they may have dressed up to take photo stickers.

A young couple relaxing on the terrace at Riverwalk.

This one was at the entrance as we left the shopping complex and went to catch our bus.

Now that we’ve left the building, we’ll time-warp back to less than an hour earlier. This next batch of photos is from one of the courtyards in Riverwalk, where the Quebecois acrobats were giving a trapeze performance. First up is a photo with people of various ages. The young woman is carrying a standard-issue Louis Vuitton bag with the unmistakable beige-on-brown pattern.

Another group. The cap is a nice touch. And the unbuttoned shirt? It has a certain je ne sais quoi.

“Daisygirl” and “B.I.G. Love” in black knee socks and runners.

Daisygirl again, this time with some racing-stripe–adorned blue jeans in the background. The stripes were fuzzy.

Men in hats, and girls in short short skirts.

This photo is mostly here to prove that the one following it hasn’t been horizontally stretched.

Who is this guy in the blue jacket and why has he been taking gamma radiation supplements?

A lady and her dog. In the twenty-or-so minutes I saw her, the dog’s feet never touched the ground. Though not for lack of trying.

If you crossed the beams while sending these two people through a matter transference beam, you might end up with slightly more balanced body proportions. Heck, he’s not even that heavy and he’s still twice the person she is.

Hmmmm… Is this an example of extraordinary self-awareness or am I reading his shirt too deeply?

Tomorrow we’ll look at these photos, taken on Wednesday May 4th:

Oh yeah, a final note about this holiday. The Japanese name for the day is Midori no hi, which does translate as “Green Day.” But I made up the bit about it being named after the American band.