お祭りー Temple Festival
Today I went to a festival at Sojiji, which is a Buddhist temple in Tsurumi.  It is a huge temple that is supposed to be bringing more Soto-zen to Eastern Japan.  There are many monks in residence, and the temple also operates Tsurumi University and an academy for kindergarten through high school kids.
The festival was very lively! At the entrance food, toy, and game vendors lined the streets which were mobbed with hundreds of people, many who were dressed up in yukata.

Once inside the grounds of the temple, the huge stone courtyard was decorated with lights and had a stage in the center where the monks were leading the dancing.  There were also monks in the crowd encouraging people and children to join in the dancing.

 I got this chocolate dipped banana from a vendor, they wouldn't let me take one until I rolled some dice.  I rolled a seven... not sure what that means but perhaps I will receive good fortune or something.

Food I brought from the street vendor- Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, so the ingredients are in layers instead of mixed together.  And deep fried noodles that are salted like crazy!  Oh, and that is a fan that a monk gave to me.