On Sunday, September 29, they held a Honwaka Shopping Street event with a pedestrian paradise at Koshienguchi〜
Shachomi from Nishi2 went to check it out〜〜
The parade started at 10:30. The turnout was huge, and apparently there were way, way more people than last year.
The mood turned warm and cheerful when the fire truck appeared carrying “Ko-chan🦊,” the fox character of Koshienguchi Shopping Street’s Inari shrine, along with the Honwaka Girls.
But that cozy mood didn’t last long
It looked like some kind of seriously intense monster was coming…
Wait, a dinosaur?!
A bear too?! Is that a gorilla behind it?!
It felt like a scene from a movie where Koshienguchi is under attack
Way too scary
Hey, hey, hey. You’re going into Life too〜〜?!
The store manager is getting eaten〜〜〜〜〜though he looks pretty happy lol
Meanwhile, the gorilla also entered the store, and the kids were absolutely thrilled, chasing it around nonstop.
Apparently the gorilla’s fur felt even nicer than expected, and everyone was super excited, saying “It’s so fluffy〜〜〜”
Then the gorilla went “gwaaa〜〜” and lunged at them, but the kids’ excitement was on an unprecedented level.
It’s even holding a shopping basket lol Life, thank you for doing something this hilarious〜〜
They also had a dinosaur festival area, including a shooting game with Nerf toy guns〜
The dinosaur coloring corner was packed too〜
Then I spotted a shop with a really long line〜
It was the cotton candy line〜. They had lots of flavors too: strawberry, cola, lemon, ramune, and plain.
After a while, everything except lemon and plain had sold out〜
Oh! They’re making chairs〜〜.
They were actually holding a woodworking class that you could join for free. It was a booth by the Nishinomiya branch of the Hanshin Doken Labor Union, a group of local craftsmen.
Juice for 50 yen?! I ended up buying two 350ml cans of tomato juice〜. This was at Nagomi Ramen’s booth.
I was also surprised they were selling eel. For 650 yen, plus 100 yen to make it an unaju eel rice box
Whoa. The baby dinosaur is so realistic! Maybe even little kids could touch this one?
There were also other fun animals around Koshienguchi.
A crocodile
This was my first time seeing Wani Wani Panic at a festival stall〜 lol
There was someone behind it, making the crocodile hands go snap-snap〜
Lots of dogs joined the event too〜. Look at those smiles〜
They were quietly watching the Awa Odori dance too〜〜
Dogs Ready to Throw Down
Shiba Inu idols〜〜〜〜
These are Ginta-kun (black Shiba) and Kota-kun (red Shiba)〜. Apparently they came all the way from Sanda〜
Sakura-chan, a 17-year-and-6-month-old Shiba Inu, was at the event too〜. She was tired and half-asleep lol There were so many Shiba Inu, my favorite dogs, gathered there that I was way too happy! Her owner is Riesuke-san〜
