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Show 156 A few of the more adventurous - - Sid, for example - - ranged farther afield, drove along pitted roads to the Byodo-in at Uji, or attended the Bunraku-za ate Osaka, but these places lay on an even lower level of fame. Consequently he went alone, and once there found himself conspicuous: the Japanese children gazed with awe and giggles. On the last dayj returning home, the group stopped off for the toro-nagashi at Ayabe. They hadn't expected it, didn't in fact know it was on, but it was a lovely afternoon, the vacation was almost over, and as they drove into the village and noted the festive air, Yosh Asano recalled the occasion. The candles would not be floated down the river until dark, and parking near the bank they got out to spend the interval on the main street, The shops contained the usual scanty offerings: lacquered boxes, vases, netsukes, scrolls. To survive, tha Japanese had put their treasures on the market, but they sold best in larger centers. In Ayabe shopping partook of the gambler's syndrome: hoping for the great find but seldom meeting it. The shopkeepers hovered about, proffering idlems, interpolating praise, scuttling to the back for another bowl. In one store Mike bought an obi, in another a pair of lacquered geta, and on emerging they noticed that the sun had sunk below a bank of clouds, and twilight breathed upward from the ground, "Shouldn't we find a place?" asked Louise, and the group turned toward the aver, moving past booths selling noodles or azuki-ice, and entered a lantern-festooned lane that led to the bank. Climbing down they found seats on the grass. Across the river there was a circling about of lights; in the reflection figures moving along the bank and soon, as if sensing that the preparations h a H hssn complete, the crowd grew silent and the fireworks |