Every September in a different location the private, non-JR, transportation consortium in Kansai called Suttro puts on a bus festival. Last year it was in Kyoto, this year it was in Osaka. At the festvial there are mascot characters, food stands, booths from all the different bus companies selling goods and many many busses. The place was packed with families with little children who all gradated to the mascots, single men in various stages of otaku, and one white dude from America. Besides me the only other foreigner was the Nepalese guy selling curry. It was pretty good too.
Mia really loves running around the busses and pushing all the stop buttons on the busses. Her favorite thing is the giant mascot characters roaming the grounds. Her favorite is the Amagasaki city bus mascot, Amakko whom she calls Amakko-chan. She's a girl with a giant red heart shaped head. This time Mia got to see Amakko-chan twice. Both times were accompanied with screams of happiness then after getting really close, a bit of fear. I go there to buy some fun Christmas gifts for my family back in the states. For myself, I got a new Shinkibus iPhone case and an Amakko tie pin. Yes, I am a dork.
Posters and flyers for the event come out a month in advance. It's always free and on one of the two Mondays that are national holidays in September.
Homepage: スルッとKANSAI
Photos: スルッと関西バス祭2013
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| Mia and Amakko |
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
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