After the festival and lunch with my art class

 Walking along the levee, I found a young boy catching bugs. The grade school curriculum in Japan includes a lot of study of insects, so the children develop a deep interest in them. They catch them in nets and then take them home and keep them as pets. There are even stores that sell some of the more interesting ones, often for large amounts of money.

 As I went by, the local shrine was still wearing its festival decorations.

 The flat area nearby where the festival actually takes place was buzzing with activity as the tends and equipment were removed.

 The reason I was out was that I had an art class that day. After class, as usual most of us went out for lunch. On this day we went to an Italian restaurant that we sometimes go to. It is the most expensive of our usual places, 1000 yen for soup, salad, pasta and a couple of pieces of hot, fantastically delicious bread. There are 10 people, nine students and Wakamatsu Sensei, the teacher.

In the alcove on the wall, there was a very interesting mask which apparently came from Venice.