Last night I realized that it was O-Bon time (around the end of summer), and I got nostalgic for the festivals of my childhood. O-Bon is the Japanese version of Dia De Los Muertos, the time of year when the spirits of dead family return to visit. Much like Dia De Los Muertos, it’s usually marked by dancing, wearing traditional Japanese clothing, eating good food, and honoring family both alive and dead. Humans around the world are not so different, are they?
I saw on the Destination Guide that the Hanafusa Okiya (Hanafusa school of Geiko) was holding an O-Bon. I wandered over to Miyagawacho Hanamachi, but was too late to view any of the festivities (everyone is on Japanese time!). The sim is gorgeous, though, so I stayed to walk in the raked sand garden and tread the narrow streets in my geta.
The sim is built for traditional Japanese Geiko roleplay. I read through the rules, and it’s much more like Memoirs of a Geisha than like (insert the usual Second Life “Geisha” house here). If you’d like to work on the sim in a variety of capacities, there’s a list of open positions on this website. I’ve always wanted to be a monk at a Shinto Shrine. Hmmmmmm…
Anyway. More photos of the lovely Miyagawacho Hanamachi behind the cut!
