Quite often, when we talk about things to do and see around town, they are things that interest the adults. Children are dragged along from place to place, sight to sight to visit and see things they have only the faintest understanding of. Well, this time let’s see what there might be for the little ones.
Every year as winter warms into spring, local TV stations sponsor special events similar to county fairs. This year my son received free tickets from some friends to the “KKB kodomo haku” (KKB Children’s Fair). They had been advertising the fair for several weeks and my son had become quite familiar with the possibility of riding rides, eating junk food, and even coming face to face with dinosaurs. Every time the ad came on, he’d remind us how much he wanted to go, in a not so subtle way. So, when I came home with the tickets, he couldn’t contain himself. The fair is held for one week, before the spring vacation starts for schoolchildren. We planned to go on the last Monday before everyone would be out looking for things to do. We felt sure there wouldn’t be a big crowd. It is always held at the Fureai Sportsland Park in Chuzan. There is a large open area above the park for such events. We set out a little later than we had wanted, though my son was up quite early. But one can never predict how long it takes to get young children together for any outing. The drive out was quick and light thanks to everyone being either in school or at work. As we turned up the road into the park we beheld the first cherry blossoms of the season. The road is lined with trees and so their fluffy pinks and whites beckoned us to the fun ahead. Parking was easy and free of charge. The moment my son’s feet hit the gravel he was off like a shot. I had to kick up some dust just to catch him and stop him from bowling people over. Once my wife and daughter caught up we strolled in through the gate.
Immediately, one can take in nearly everything at the fair. There were some little rides and many inflated jumping rooms. There was a ball pit and carnival games. And there was the covered area for performances and then the obligatory food vendors. There were also some booths sponsored by various local businesses and even one where children can make cookies and breads. My son didn’t stop to take anything in. As soon as he came through the gate he spotted the mini steam train.
He took off at warp five. He absolutely loves vehicles of all kinds, but especially steam trains. He had been waiting for this moment and he wasn’t going to waste a second. Again I had to run to catch him before he pushed his way to the front of the line. I explained that he’d have to wait his turn. Surprisingly, he did so rather calmly. He was just enjoying seeing the train up close and in person. Then he got his chance. I tried to get him up to the front, behind the conductor, but we took our place a few seats back. Perhaps that was just as well, because this was a real working steam train. It burns coal and everything. The smoke from the stack blows into the face of those directly up front. Now, as an adult I can say that the short linear track is a bit disappointing, but the kids go wild for it. My son also liked waving and blowing kisses to the lady conductors as he passed. That’s my boy! After literally dragging him from the train, we tried to browse some other areas. As a child I was never allowed to go to the carnival games section. I guess my dad felt it was a waste of money. But I wanted him to have as much fun as he could make, so I let him try anything he wanted. He actually did well at the fishing booth. He caught his fish (they are plastic) very quickly and won himself an inflatable samurai sword. My wife and I both winced, but at least he couldn’t hurt himself (we hoped). He went along to the other booths and kept gathering little prizes and candies. When he came to the last booth, the ladies running it had a fit when they saw him. They came running forward yelling how cute he was and how they wanted to cuddle him. They wanted to take a picture with him and boy did he played his cards right. After blowing each a kiss, they ran to the back and returned with a hand full of prizes. His favorite was the wind up alligator and the dinosaur egg. That’s my boy! He then decided that he wanted some of the food from the vendors.
Of course there was all the really sweet and greasy stuff, but there was also very standard fare as well. We got some sandwiches, tako-yaki, and grilled chicken. I bought some cold tea and water from one of the vending machines. We plunked ourselves down at one of the tables and tried to enjoy our food. But after a couple of mouthfuls, my son wanted to take off again. Apparently, it was contagious as my daughter decided she wanted to run around too, despite the fact that she had just learned to walk. It was quite an exercise to keep them together. He ran off toward one of the jumping rooms with little Tina in tow. Before he got there he stopped at one of the booths. It was set up by a local English school as a recruiting station. They had a TV playing an ABC song and dance. My son had to stop and sing along. The young lady at the booth came up and asked him some questions. She then offered him a chance to win a prize. He took a chance at their bingo-like game and came up with two free packs of ABC picture cards and a CD. Good boy! She asked if he spoke English. She was surprised that he responded in English. I had to kind of laugh. As you may know, I run an English school and here was the competition attempting to recruit my son. After my son got his bounces in the inflatable room and ran this way and that, my wife and I decided to rein him in and get a little time to sit. We figured we’d go over to where they give live performances and just wait for the next show. On this day, there was a show starring one of many cartoon characters. Every day has a different show. We found a spot not far from the action and set up camp. It was still hard to keep the two of them from running wild. There were other families with our same plan and just as little success in keeping their little ones from bouncing all over. So, it became something of a nursery during that pre-show time. It was a circle of parents hovering around a passel of kids gone mad. But they were having fun. Then the show began. Basically, it was a bunch of people dressed in costume, dancing and singing. I could see how children between five and seven might be entranced. But I’ve got a three year old and a one year old. They can’t sit still for a second. Rather than have them chase themselves during the whole show, we decided to move on. It turned out to be a really good idea. As most people were enjoying the show, the lines were wide open. My son, Shion, took this chance to hit the train a couple more times and get in other rides and games.
Then we came to the dinosaur section. There was a long tented area set up with every indication that there might be something alive inside. Once again, he could hardly contain himself. Here was the other reason to wake up this morning. He was about to come face to face with dinosaurs. I held his hand and he skipped his way in. As we entered, a giant T-rex head thrust outward and roared viciously at us. Shion detached himself and ran out as if he was on fire. It took time to convince him that the dinosaurs weren’t going to eat him. This time he followed, gripping my hand tightly and staying slightly behind me.
Meanwhile, my daughter waddled in. She took one look at the roaring T-rex and promptly told him off. I’m not quite sure what she said (she can’t really talk yet), but I think it was something like “Why don’t you just shut up!” That’s my girl. We walked along the path and each stop put us right before different dinosaurs, roaring and growling, hissing and stomping. It was impressive for a fair of this size to have such realistic animatronic dinosaurs on display. Throughout most of it, my son shook and whined, but my daughter seemed to have a field day telling all the fearsome creatures to stick it. She even clapped her hands in approval at many of the herbivorous dinos. After we made our way through the main section, we came out into a museum-like place which displayed real fossils. There was also a photo corner and a dino-toy shop. The kids started to get tuckered out after all that excitement. Shion insisted on a going to a few more rides and of course catching the train again. As he rode along the tracks, his little sis slipped off into dream land. When he had finally had his fill and he had given all the ladies a last kiss goodbye, we gathered up and shuffled back to the car. My wife and I were beat. Tina slept all the way home, but her brother had to regale us with his day’s adventure.
I wanted to take a cue from Tina and close my eyes. But it was good to hear everything he felt. I’m glad he had such a good time. Seeing and hearing how much it all pleased him made it worth every loud, tiring, hot minute.
