oops

oops
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Ok, so my father would be dissapointed in me. I let an important date in history slip me by...and because of it, i think i made a cultural faux pas. It was Aug 14th. I was biking to get some groceries and i saw our local temple decorated like i have never seen before. Everyone was there. Parents, kids, the Yakuza in their "Fun Bus" and the military.

"hmm, it looks interesting, i want to see whats going on." i thought. So i raced home on my one speed beast and grabbed my camera. I parked my bike and went into the open space in front of the temple (walking past a wall of pink lanterns inside the massive Temple Gate). I saw people standing in silence. Some in uniforms.

It took me too long, and my presence was noticed, before i fully realized what i was looking at.

It was the 60th anniversary of the day Japan surrendered to America to end WWII. I was standing in the middle of a service remembering the dead. They people who were killed by my countrymen. Needless to say, i should have noticed the ceremonial cemetery marble Anchors and Airplane propellors. I should have realized the date and combined that with the decorated people full of silent onlookers. But there i was, the blond haired AMERICAN standing with them in their temple marking a day their country "lost" a lot of honor.

I turn around and left as quick as i could.