Countries Of My Life: "Oktoberfest" in Japan

This day started with my first "Oktoberfest" in Japan. And by the way, my first one in general. I went with Taka to the German School in Tokyo, the only one in Japan. After a short while, Aoi came also. Taka and Aoi were both in Germany for over a year, so communication was easy this time ^^

Is it really October? More like August ;)

An interesting fact that a German school exists in Japan, this shows the strong connection both share. Because in Düsseldorf, we have also a Japanese School. But back to the "Oktoberfest": I think it quite different from a usual one, it looked more like a school summer fest. Everywhere were booths with food, different drinks and so on, representing different parts of Germany and some countries nearby like Austria, France and Switzerland. Also some German companies presented themselves like Lufthansa, Vorwerk and Mercedes-Benz.

Hmmm ... German fish in Japan? Really fresh? ;)

At first it was a bit strange because "Why should I eat German food in Japan? I'm finally out of it!". Just kidding, it was funny to eat "Bratwurst" in Japan :) The taste was the same as in Germany ^^ It's awesome to see that both countries love the food from each other. I mean, many of my friends can actually make Sushi and Ramen is also easy to make in Germany. The whole fest remembered me on the "Japan Day" in Düsseldorf, it's just the other way around :D

Inside the School

School itself looked beautiful, I wish I would have school here ^^ There is so much space and even this school building was first used in 1991, everything looks modern and without much proof of use. Of course, for a former German pupil, it looks very familiar how the rooms are divided, the doors are decorated and so on. They even have their own swimming hall! Okay, I don't know if this is common in Japanese schools, so maybe it's standard ;)

The cafetaria

Why didn't I have this in school?

We went also to the most important place: The cafteria called "Cezars Kitchen". It was very clean and bright and the food itself sounded much better than the stuff I had in school ;)

Cake!!!!

But at this day we couldn't try, so we went to the "Deutsches Café" (German Café) which had a "Kuchenbasar" (Cake Sale). There were many kinds from plum and apple cake over marble cake to carrot cake. And before you ask, there were no unusual creations, like I also expected from Japan :D

Yummy! :)

I tried plum, apple and carrot cake. I can just say, that everyone was very delicious and to my very surprise not different from the German ones. Must be an effect of globalisation ;)

Highlight of the day was the Taiko (Japanese Drums Performance) Group of the school which made an 1-hour-performance. Since I saw the Taiko Group "Yamato" in Leipzig, I love this kind of music. But sadly buying on CD isn't that good, because you have to hear it live. Otherwise you can't feel the magic :D
They made an excellent performance and did a really great job. Would love to hear from them in the future too ^^

After the fest was over, I went with taka to the next "Oktoberfest" in Yokohama, now with the focus on beer and the typical German food for "Oktoberfest". It was really crowded but to my surprise, even we were a bit late, no one seemed to be really drunk. In my opinion, I would suggest that Japanese people would get drunk very quickly but even most of them bought 1-liter glasses, everyone was just happy ^^
Maybe this is the famous Japanese ability to stay calm in every situation ;)

More like an Oktoberfest? ;)

At this fest, I got to know some of Taka's friends and some of them were also in Germany for quite a time. Afterwards we went to Chinatown, which was nearby. There we had a good dinner, but I can't remember all of the food. I just know we drank some Chinese liquour made of herbs. And I had a spicy Thai curry, if I remember right :D