2010 Tokyo Highland Games

**CDNSushi** · 4th October 10, 06:13 PM

Just to confirm that the Scottish diaspora is indeed global, this annual event always draws well over a thousand people and is a great time. This year I went alone (for a number of reasons) but still had a great time!

As soon as I got to the grounds I firmly started demanding scotch, only to find out that NO ONE -- not a single one of the vendors or pubs that had set up tents at the event, had any. I was aghast! Last year you could have drowned in single malt but this year there was nary a dram to be found anywhere.

Well, one of the vendors purveying haggis proudly displayed a bottle of Macallans and Glenfiddich, so I found the owner and asked him if those two bottles were for sale or just for show. Being the good businessman he was, he quickly realized that there was far more profit to be had from selling shots than splashing it free over some haggis as a condiment. Immediately I ordered a double and went on my way to enjoy the festival.

Many people stopped me and asked, "Whatcha drinkin'?"

"Uh... Scotch..."

"But they said there wasn't any this year. Where did you get it?"

And in the interest of being friendly I pointed them in the right direction. In any event, by the end of the afternoon, and a few doubles later, along with some fantastic ales and local microbrews, a small group of us polished off both bottles and spent the waning half-hour of the games bezzering and trying to figure out how to get to the next party. Fortunately for me, good sense suddenly kicked in amidst the haze and I realized I'd better be catching the train home, lest my wife skin me alive.... It was undoubtedly the right decision!

Well, as the rules go... Piccies or it never happened. Here are a few from the games, and as with my other posts, you can follow the link to see the entire collection on my website. http://zayith.com/photos/Highland%20Games%202010/

Highland dancing seems to be a popular pastime for many in Japan.

A member of the Tokyo Pipe Band competes in the solo piping competition.

Castle Tintagel is Tokyo's SCA (and non-SCA) re-creationist group. They put on some sword and melee fighting demonstrations. This was a first this year, but based on the very positive reception they received, they told me they would certainly be back next year.

It wouldn't quite be a Highland Games without the heavy events. The caber toss is a staple, even in Japan. The judge (wearing the tie) is brought in every year from Aberdeen, and the Glenfiddich tanktop-wearing fellow is a pro (semi-pro) competitor who also came from Scotland. He was not eligible to actually compete in the games, but he participated for the sake of exhibition and to give the amateur competitors some tips and pointers.

I never even stopped to think about having someone snap my photo at the games. It only came to me as I was walking home from the train station that I had no pictures of myself this year. So, at the very least and for the sake of posterity I put the camera on a tripod when I arrived home and took a picture in our garden. I was attired in my Freedom tartan (yeah, I bought it anyways) and my new, gray sporran that I mentioned in another thread a few weeks ago.

Anyway, that's it for this year! Hope you enjoyed my piccies...

**BLHS209** · 4th October 10, 07:38 PM

Thanks for the pictures. Good to see how others enjoy the games. Maybe next year that vendor will have a larger selection of whiskey / scotch (not that the bottles he had were bad)

Chris shepherd

**artificer** · 4th October 10, 07:51 PM

Looks like a ton of fun.

One thing that stuck me was that, while fighting with European (mock) weapons, the stances and position of weapons of the locals was VERY Japanese

BTW: I LOVE your garden.

I've got a stand of Bisetti bamboo that has gone ballistic these last two seasons, but I've got nothing on your garden.