Two performers of a sort, unrelated to each other, except that they were both at Omiya Park yesterday for what should no doubt be the last of 花見 (hanami, cherry blossom viewing), both performing.
In the woman’s case, she was in her own カラオケ (karaoke) space, with a tape player and plenty of æ¼”æŒ (enka) tapes. Somehow you would expect her to be a bit of a nutter, but she was surprisingly grounded when I talked with her, apologizing for having no Baishou Chieko with her. (Curiously, an elderly man who could’ve been her husband except that later he was nowhere to be found was videotaping her for over an hour).
The man on the right was more one-man mariachi band, walking around the park with his guitar, a microphone/amp setup, and what looked like a handmade karaoke phone book of songs. I’m assuming he was collecting money for his efforts though I saw no money changing hands. His customers when I took this were sufficiently plastered to have no inhibitions about singing their lungs out in public.
Though I pass through Omiya station everyday, I had never been to Omiya Park before, and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised. It was the perfect place to close out this years’ hanami “season” as it were.
UPDATE (April 17, 2006): I have uploaded photos taken from both hanami parties we were invited to this year.