Small town festivals in rural Japan always leave me stunned, especially Obon in August. Something magical about the town coming together on a summer evening to light a bonfire, carry lanterns, and do their own local semi-mysterious rituals. To think that these towns have been performing these same events for generations going back a thousand years sometimes adds a whole new layer to appreciate. As a foreigner, there's a wonderful feeling of being an outsider while also being tacitly accepted as part of a group. Such a ethereal and bizarre feeling to be straddling that line.