Hakodate always had lots of crazy things going on. Here's something I never did figure out, a parade in the middle of summer, with kids wearing Santa Claus costumes, bearing the banner "Saturday Night Fever." It was followed by a group of kids wearing opera costumes, bearing a banner that read "Carmen."

I finally had enough of commuting from Kamiiso, and being isolated from all the fun in town. I moved to geshuku in Yuunokawa, a resort area in the town, with lots of great food, and entertainment. Here's a picture of a punk rock concert I went to at a sound stage a few blocks from the geshuku. The punks just dyed their hair red for this concert, the day before they were all green. I accidentally disrupted this concert by using my video camera. The singer (with the yellow hair) started pointing at me, screaming "damme damme!" and the music screeched to a halt. I put the camera down, bowed and motioned "gomen." And the band started right back up and rocked on.