I went to Oktoberfest! I’m sure you know of the one in Munich that occurs fairly regularly and which is just an excuse for Germans to drink a little bit more beer than usual. It’s usually around October time. Well the Japanese have Oktoberfest too, only it’s in spring and this year runs from the end of April into early May, because you know why not have it in April/May. It takes place in Yokohama (just to the south of Tokyo) surrounded by hundred year old red brick customs houses (now a slightly alternative/pricey shopping centre) that would fit in just fine in any English dock area.
I haven’t actually been to Oktoberfest but I have been drinking with Germans and I have been to Munich and I have actually been drinking with Germans in Munich so I feel that’s close enough to comment. Like with a lot of things the Japanese import, while they do it very well there is often the feeling that there a few things that have been lost in translation.
Anyway. Here are some Japanese people wearing traditional German dress.
Don’t they look nice.
The festival also has it’s very own Hofbräuhaus which sold some very nice German beer although unfortunately it wasn’t also at the same price as beer in Germany, instead the pricing scheme seemed to be based on a central London bar with prices starting at ‘this will make you wince’ and going on to ‘are you sure you need to eat this week?’. There’s even a ¥1000 (£8) deposit on the glasses.
Inside the big tent were some drunken Japanese people dancing to some ‘traditional’ (I definitely heard one or two Beatles numbers) German music. If any Germans would like to weigh in on the next point I’d be glad of clarification, or maybe I just haven’t been to enough festivals yet. But as far as I can remember this is the only place I’ve ever found chicken in a cup for sale.
<----Chicken in a cup.
Have the Japanese just invented this or can you indeed buy this in Germany? If so then points to the Japanese for accurately recreating the festival but minus points to the Germans for putting chicken in a cup. It doesn’t make sense. If you can buy it elsewhere then maybe I just need to get out more, although if such crazy things as chicken in a cup are happening then maybe I’m safer inside. Here are some final pictures of beer in those stupid long glasses that suddenly pour beer all over you once you
get to the bottom because you have to tip it so far up to get any out at all and then by that point all of the beer is coming out.
Prost!
