Remember Oda Nobunaga, the warlord who sieged Gifu Castle a hella long time ago and subsequently re-named Gifu and attempted to unite Japan? Well, on 10/2/10, Gifu celebrated him and we got to watch! That's "him" to the left. We headed downtown with a teacher from my school and a very good, old friend from Oberlin who we hadn't seen in 5 years (since graduation). Ai, the teacher, nicely came from her home in Ginan-cho - about an hour away from Gifu - to hang out for the day. Nik came from Yokohama, near Tokyo, to spend the weekend with us in our humble, furniture-less abode. It really was wonderful to spend time with both of them, to feel like we were sinking into our life in Japan, and reconnecting with an old friend on the other side of the world! To the left is a true kibasen , or mounted knight. We enjoyed a very short parade that was a historical re-creation of Oda Nobunaga's various armies, confidantes, counselors, Christian ministers, and
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