Tanabata in Kabuki Street - July 9th!

[Eri Maeda]

Summer is just around the corner and the weather is getting very hot, but steamy weather hasn't lessened the growing excitement in Kabuki Street for the yearly Tanabata celebration! Already decorations are being made, a grand parade and fireworks planned, and happy shoppers are looking for the perfect yukata to wear for the festivities! Celebrating the legend of Orihime and Hikoboshi, the Tanabata matsuri is the most popular festival day of the year among the Kabuki Street Rengou-kai, and they are already flocking to the Zama Shrine to help out with the preparations. They look forward to welcoming guests from all over the realm to party with them, and colorful decorations have begun to appear all over the 9 block area of Kabuki Street.




The festival will take place on July 9th, beginning with a grand parade organized by the Zama Shrine. This year the parade will include a local taiko drummer group!



Games are a popular attraction during the festival, with all earnings being donated to the Shrine. Many can be played, including yo-yo tsuri, senbonbiki, ring toss, and the most popular of all, the famous goldfish scooping game known as kingyo sukui.



All of the games and shopping and partying can work up an appetite. Thankfully many vendors will set up their stalls, serving delicious festival foods such as taiyaki, yakisoba, mochi, and of course the most popular of all, takoyaki.



Delinquents and shopkeepers alike were relieved when the familiar team of Swiss pyrotechnics experts were seen checking into the Kabuki Prince hotel, and word got around that the sukeban had managed to hire them for this years display once again.



((Tanabata is a live play event that will take place in the #streets-of-rhydin channel on the Discord server at 9 pm Eastern on Saturday, July 9th! The channel will be used for the Kabuki Street setting. Feel free to reply to this thread with your characters outfit and/or a mention of their participation in the festival. The activities above will be happening throughout the night, but the finale of the fireworks display will be at midnight!

Want to know more about Tanabata? Check this post! ))

[Eri Maeda]

Eri was determined to get a head start on yukata shopping this year, while the selection of fabrics and prints was still good. As it turned out the perfect one to celebrate summer was to be found in the nearest street vendor stall to the Sunny Mart, only a short walk from where she had been napping in her plastic outdoor chair in the back storeroom.

[Takajin]

Thanks to Kaede Jin decided on a firework theme for her Tanabata outfit. While her morning festivities were spent at the shrine to help with the games and other activities, she made sure to have enough free time to spend with Meru later in the afternoon.

She also made sure to get her friends into the parade!

[Meru Yamane]

With some help from Suki, Meru was able to pick out a cool vintage haori to wear for Tanabata. She enjoyed being in the parade and particularly took an interest in the food stalls throughout the day. When the late afternoon arrived she was happy to spend some time with Jin and try to win her some prizes at the games.

[PC]

With theme in mind Na-rae went to work a good five months in advance. The Takamine's usually took a week or so off at the end of each month, which allowed Na-rae time to put away time to focus on her task.

The want of making homemade clothing for an event like Tanabata is important to her. The past two years the choice of yukata was made, but Na-rae wanted to put her sewing machine to work on crafting her wife and herself semi-matching modern hanbok to wear.

Izumi's attire


Na-rae's attire


Na-rae played the role of diligent wife, with Izumi and herself walking hand in hand with their young daughter Lisa about the Tanabata festivities. She also made sure that Izumi purchased a mask for their daughter from a stand near the Zama Shrine for her growing collection.

[Yuri]

The Shinsengumi are the de facto law enforcement of Kabuki Street and the denizens that live and work within their jurisdiction. They imposed the will of the Kabuki Street Rengou-kai and its leader, Sukeban Eri Maeda. While they are willing to work with the Rhydin Watch in certain circumstances, the Shinsengumi do not consider themselves part of their network, and because of this the Watch itself is not allowed to operate within Kabuki.

During the festivities of Tanabata revelers may see out of the corner of their vision or even pass by a duo or trio of Shinsengumi as they patrol. As Tanabata is one of the major festivals of Kabuki Street it is important to the Shinsengumi and their Captain that the air about the event is one of fun, excitement, and overall: safe.

The attire of the Shinsengumi is normally simply a haori bearing their colors and crest, though this was taken up a notch for Tanabata; as it was decided they would wear their more formal regalia.

Kabuki Street Shinsengumi Uniform

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Yuri held a more masculine look due to the choice of full uniform during the festivities, possibly because her hair being pulled back in a ponytail and the usage of the forehead guard (something she fixed every now and again since she isn't used to wearing it). There was no attempt to hide the sheathed katana that hangs from the left of her hip, while on her right there rests a holstered firearm.

By Tanabata Hye-jin's hair was restored to its former two-tone blonde and black. Her ssangsudo sword was far too large to wear so she was forced to carry it in her left hand throughout the patrol, but she seemed to have no discomfort wearing the traditional forehead guard. During one of the short breaks in their patrol she had Yuri hold the huge sword for her while she impressed the crowd and won Yuri a new mask at the high striker game.

Hye-jin's Hair

Hye-jin and Yuri were on patrol throughout the night, and while they stayed busy and kept moving they had time for a few snack breaks and some games. Yuri also took time to hand a souvenir paper fan with the Shinsengumi crest to an excited shrimp who asked to hold her sword.

[Kaede]

[Saori Sato]

[Mallory]

The week after Beltane, as had become tradition, Mallory visited the home of one of Kabuki Street's more feared and controversial individuals: Bungee Maximum, a fashion designer who had fled Tokyo after fatally running over her manager with a Vespa. They drank tea, caught up on the year behind them, drank beer, laughed about murder, shared a little of the witch's Kathmandu Pony Express, and listened to the 5.6.7.8's.

By the end of the visit, they had the design for a new yukata.

And by the week before Tanabata, it was ready.



((This yukata is from the store of fashion designer Rumi Rock! Check it out.))

[Mallory]

Tanabata Facts!



While not required, many people enjoy dressing up for festivals like Tanabata. The yukata is the preferred garment for summer festivals, and every year Kabuki Street turns into a sea of people in brightly colored and patterned fabric, moving along on wooden sandals. Yukata can be bought many places in RhyDin, but they can be reliably found on Kabuki Street -- especially right before a festival this big!



Takoyaki is a delicious street food popular on Kabuki Street, especially during Tanabata! Battered balls of minced octopus are covered in the signature takoyaki sauce and served in a boat. Other popular foods include yakitori chicken skewers, okonomiyaki savory pancakes, and yakisoba stir-fry --



-- as well as left over watermelon from suikawari! Competitors are given a stick and blindfolded, spun around three times, and sent (ideally!) in the direction of a ripened watermelon laid out on a piece of cardboard. Other, less messy games include goldfish and toy scooping, water gun shooting, and ring toss.



Last but not least, Kabuki Street itself, the site of festival and territory of its eponymous rengou-kai, or delinquent gang! Located in the northeast part of the Dockside district, Kabuki Street is known for being a busy neighborhood that is brightly and garishly lit -- and that goes double on Tanabata! Streamers and other paper decorations dangle over the nine blocks of the ward, adding to the bright and colorful atmosphere.

((If this is familiar to anyone, this is a lightly edited repeat of an informational post I made in 2019, lol. Happy Tanabata-ing!))

[Yuzuki Kuwabara]

Yuzuki had been busy the weak leading up to Tanabata, putting up decorations both at her house and outside the Kabuki Honbu Dojo. At least she had some help from her Rappapa friends for decorating the house, and from some students to help with the dojo decorations. She spent longer than usual searching for the perfect yukata for the year, and finally found one that she deemed satisfactory at a stall near the Kabuki Street Sanrio store.

[Mairead Harker]

During the day, Maggie made the rounds of the festival with her cousins, Alin and Lena, and her youngest aunts, Abby and Madison. They made sure to stop at the Zama Shrine and visit with the rabbits. Lena had read the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi and shared it with the others. Maggie planned on making the fireworks show that night.

[Amaris]

Amaris found the best Yukata and spent the whole time running all over and sampling everything! <By sampling she was buying any food that caught her eye>

[Asami Ito]

Asami hadn't been intending to match with her wife but inadvertently appeared to have settled into a theme of sorts. Yuzuki wore blue with more darker shades while the blues of Asami's yukata were lighter.

[Riho Matsuda]

Ten weeks after the birth of the Matsuda twins, Tanabata would be the first occasion that Riho returned to work to help patrol and protect the happy festivalgoers. As captain of the Kabuki Shinsengumi, she too was wearing the full and ceremonial uniform rather than just the haori over street clothes as was more customary. Formal uniform or not, she was certain after reviewing the patrol plans that all of the shinsengumi was dedicated to making sure everyone had fun safely, and that all were prepared to get physical if need be to ensure it.



Though she stayed busy, she did find a few moments to play some games and win some prizes to bring home to Suzaku and the twins.