Barbecue, festivities and fireworks.... Japanese style

Rodney and I were lucky enough to be invited to a Japanese barbecue and fireworks-watching party in Hiroshima last weekend. It was a lot of fun and so very interesting! I couldn't help but compare it to American 4th of July barbecues and fireworks displays and I was surprised by how many similarities there were between the two.

First of all, it was hot and humid. The menu included grilled meat, beer and soda in coolers, iced tea, buffet-style tables with a plethora of food,

watermelon,

paper plates (with my name written on it in Japanese and English initial),

and it all happened in a two-car garage...

However, this was an unusually large home for Japan, owned by a Japanese English teacher and her husband.

Two-car garages are rare in Japan, and I am not sure how much of an American influence the barbecue had, but it still had enough differences to keep me interested and feeling like a foreigner! 

I brought store-bought gourmet cookies, 30 of them, which were gone in a flash. Other desserts included fresh bananas and grapefruit, and thick waffles, which could be covered in syrups or jams.

The view from the nautical-themed deck on the back of the house was gorgeous and we had a wonderful view of the fireworks, of which none of these pictures do justice to. Hiroshima has fireworks annually at this time and rumor had it that more than 10,000 were shot off. The display was scheduled to go from 8 to 9 p.m., and right at 8 p.m., the fireworks started... I have never been to an American display where the fireworks started "on the dot." And the display lasted just seven minutes shy of an hour.

Like I said before, we had a great time. Our hosts were friendly and generous and it was great to really enjoy contemporary Japanese culture. Special thanks to the Webers!