The little Shinto shrine has never looked so lively! The whole area is done up in full Japanese festival style! The empty field around the shrine has become a miniature city of tents and booths selling food, souvenirs, and entertainment of all kinds!

Most of the booths are manned by tanuki dressed in traditional kimono and hanoi robes, with the occasional fox making an appearance. There are even a crew of very male tanuki in festival fundoshi roaming around and distributing free sake and treats to anyone interested.

Streamers and lanterns are everywhere and a gentle snowfall has made the whole place look absolutely magical. There is a conspicuously raised platform in the middle of the orderly market festival containing a large sumo ring. Perhaps it will be part of the entertainment later.

Alcohol was reason enough to draw Nena over for a visit. Nostalgia was another reason. She had to judge the authenticity of it, after all. Mostly the drink, though. "Snow, out here? I didn't know it snowed out here. Learn something new every day," she muses to herself, as she ambles around to scope the offerings, while nursing a drink. "Let's see what we've got for food, though... Can't drink on an empty stomach."

Sensuen walks in dressed in her jeans, black messenger bag and hooded skirted tunic that looks an awful lot like a denim kimono that only goes down to Sen's knees. Sensuen has the hood down, as usual, but it still comes in quite handy sometimes. Still Sensuen is ready to enjoy the games and festivities at the unusually populated shrine as others have already found their way here.

The sound of taiko drums sound rhythmically, before a whirlwind forms. In the center, a white tanuki with red details appear, doing a kabuki pose with a matching yell. He then look around, before clearing his throat and straightening his clothes. "Sorry, couldn't resist." He says as he fiddles with his color chooser, returning to his usual red and golden. He then moves to the closest food booth to get something.

Theresa had already started on the sake it seems, her cheeks burning a little under her silver fur. She had moonlighted as an attendant at the sushi bar and onsen before, but today she was here for fun, not work. Still, the kitsune dressed the part, in something that resembled a short kimono. The vixen applauds and whistles as the white tanuki appears, appreciating the show it seems.

Tanuki in colorful, festival garb welcome all comers, waving colorful fans and pointing out various games and attractions. They cheer Kar and his dramatic entrance.

Snow notwithstanding, the weather is really quite warm and pleasant in this protected area. A pair of oversized mascots, a pig and a rat in samurai clothes wander about interacting with visitors and occasionally having little mock fights with each other.

All four of our current heroes find themselves at the same food booth, where a tanuki with a fisherman's wrap tied tound his head is artfully producing trays of fragrant octopus dumplings! "Fresh tacoyaki!" he hawks his wares, "Perfect for a festival! Get your fresh octopus dumplings here!"

The greeters give an especially enthusiastic welcome to a small contingency arriving from Zephyr. A small security detail seems to be accompanying a pair of VIPs. "This is unusual for you, Elias," the man in the fancier suit says to a much more casual young man beside him, "I thought you would rather stay in the lab."

Nena leans forward to appraise the food stall and its wares. "Yes, I'll take some. I'm curious to see how it turned out. I'm from part of Japan famed for its food, you know. I want to see how it measures up. Though I'm pretty easy to please, and I haven't had lunch yet." She shifts her drink to the off hand, and readies to claim her meal. "Is there a reason for the festival, that you can tell me?"

Sensuen is a bit torn on the octopus dumplings, on the one hand, octopi are quite smart animals, on the other hand, curiosity and a susupicious lack of an octopus governed Atlantis mean that they too have their limits. Sensuen walks up to the stall and asks to try one, though her own clothes only seem to highlight how useful kimonos, or clothes made in such a style, seem to be around the world even after p-day.

Kar looks over the takoyaki, humming as he chooses. "I'll take a tray. Always wanted to try takoyaki." He says, to the tanuki. As he receives the tray, he notices the Zephyr group. He approaches them and nods a greeting. "Doctor Elias? My name is Kar. I have quite some interest in your work."

Theresa goes for a spot of food too, smiling gratefully at the tanuki as she gets her dumplings. While she starts on those, she watches the Zephyr entourage arrive. The kitsune didn't seem to care much about lap work though, instead starting to snoop around, seeing if she could find some fun games or something to watch.

Lightstroke observes the festival at a height of 20 feet. He takes notices of the customs of the area that are somewhat strange to him.

The tanuki at the booth grins at Nena. "You're from the old country!" he says serving up a beautiful little tray of perfect tako-yaki. "I haven't been to Nippon for nearly six hundred years, but my recipe is even older than that!" He makes a tray for each agent/mutant/whatever at his stall. "We are celebrating the new year! You celebrate it on the first of January, and the lunar new year is on the twenty fifth, so we decided to split the difference. One of the local tanuki thought that we could use a little community outreach in this city."

The Zephyr security detail watches Kar closely as he moves up to the group. "Really?" Doctor Elias Thomas looks at the tanuki, "You are interested in thoeretical nanotech applications?" His older, executive escort steps up closer, "Do you know this... creature, Elias?" he asks.

There are all sorts of games and entertainments. There is a dart throwing game, some kind of dunking booth that looks fun, a tent advertising a weight guessing game, and the promise of that raised stage in the middle. Right now a crew of tanuki in blue jackets seem to arranging themselves on the stage. Maybe there will be some kind of performance!

"Hm, well I doubt I'll have anything to complain about, then," replies the tigress with a smile as she takes her tray and makes way. "An odd gap time for a celebration, but I won't complain about free food and drink." After a moment of samplina, Nena gives an approving nod. "Pretty good, pretty good. Can I convince you to share this recipe, maybe? I know some people who would probably like it."