This week has brought lots of guests, visitors, and distant family members to Tono, to celebrate Obon. Last night a fireworks show was held at the shores of the Hayase river. We live only two blocks from the river, so just walking down the street from our home, we were able to see it, and enjoy the display.
Just in time for the August travel season, when lots of people from all over Japan come to visit, 遠野市観光協会/Tono Tourist debuts this special sampler package featuring 3 local handcraft coffee roasters, Mamehiko, Tono General Store, and our own Black Ship Coffee. Stop by the Tourist Information Center to find out more.
ITALIAN BAR ITTEMICCA and Michael’s Cafe American teaming up again to offer indoor and outdoor dining, for folks arriving in Tono this week for Obon (お盆). Featuring grilled hamburgers, made with the finest Tono beef, and chicken skewers on the grill, with hot sauce.
Check in for more updates this August, things are changing from week to week, as we celebrate Obon (お盆) and have extended hours, and days. We’re open 9 consecutive days in the middle of August! And are opening a little earlier (not shown here) so if you come in at 10:30, we can serve fresh coffee, while we’re setting up.
August is party time in Tono, lots of festivals, travel, and family visits. So we’re taking a few weeks off our regularly scheduled conversational english classes. We’ll be back September 4th, the usual time!
Why celebrate one birthday when you can celebrate two? We teamed up to combine the July birthdays of Kazuhiko Tada & Michael Dougan and threw a party.
This Sunday’s movie was Mr. Baseball, a sentimental sports classic from 1992, starring Tom Selleck, Ken Takakura, Aya Takanashi, Dennis Haysbert, Toshi Shioya, Kosuke Toyohara … (see more). A joint U.S.-Japan production, rich in cross-cultural humor, Mr. Baseball is my favorite East-West comedy.
It’s American Day in Tono today, July 21st.
Inquire in at Michael’s Cafe for more info, or just drop in on one of our Tuesday or Thursday Conversational English sessions, we welcome guests!
This week Michael’s Cafe American partnered with Italian Bar Ittemicca, On-Cafe, NoTo General Store, and other Tono restaurants to serve dishes featuring our finest local ingredients to attendees of a JCI event, July 7th at Aeria Hotel. Also in attendance were dancers, lions, drummers, and other assorted traditional Japanese performers. What did we serve? Chicken tacos with homemade chipotle sauce, and spicy beef & bean chili, with shredded cheese and corn chips. And fresh hot coffee. Yeah, baby. That’s what happens when you invite an American to one of these things.
Tonight we’re honoring the coolest kids in town, Didac, Delia, and Gaia Piazza. Didac is moving to attend a school in Nagano, and his sisters are returning to Sicily, we’re celebrating their awesomeness at a farewell party later tonight. レナータの子供達の送別会. Tono won’t be the same without them!
We’re celebrating Independence Day! We’re gathering all the Americans in Tono to watch “Captain America” movies, and enjoy milk and chocolate chip cookies.
Golden Week brought many new faces, and lots of good food and celebration. We’re still new (only about ten weeks!) so this was our first test serving Tono during a busy holiday.
