jikan_rpg | February | Event: Festival of Lights

Festival of Lights↲ OOC Plotting

Minimize

As the Lunar New Year celebrations draw to a close, all that remains is Yokohama's famous Lantern Festival. In preparation for this day, hundreds of thousands of lanterns have been carefully crafted and can be seen all over the city of Yokohama.

But while the festivities chiefly involve the culture and traditions of Zhongguo, over the years, many new traditions have risen from Nippon's own unique culture.

Lantern Festival

Held at the end of the Lunar New Year celebrations is the Lantern Festival, meant to both welcome the beginning of springtime, as well as say goodbye to the previous year. While folktales surrounding its origin tend to vary, here in Nippon, it began simply as a way for natives of Zhongguo to share their culture with the people of the East.

Throughout Yokohama, brilliant displays of intricate lanterns can be found on various streets and corners, but the real show is in Zhongguo Town proper. Every street and balcony is lit up with lanterns of all shapes and sizes, and almost everyone is dressed in traditional Zhongguo attire. Join in the festivities while they last!

Tyger, Tyger Kannai, Yokohama
While beings similar to Human and Yokai live throughout the world of Gaia, it's only in Nippon where Yokai are referred to as Yokai. Different nations use different terms, and in Zhongguo, the polite term for a "Yokai-like person" is Yaoguai. And while it may be difficult for the refugees to tell the difference, there is one thing that makes Yaoguai unique: while Nippon's Bakeneko tend to be very small, the Tiger Yaoguai of Zhongguo easily tower over nearly everyone, with some even forced to bow their heads when passing under doorways.

Due to their ubiquitous nature, the Tiger Yaoguai have become something of a staple around Zhongguo Town, and it's not uncommon to see at least one of two lending a hand at the various booths selling food and lanterns for the festival. Especially with just how much of the festivities are organized by a joint organization of immigrants to the East known as the Yaoguai-Yokai-Hanyo Friendship Association.

But despite coming from a land that isn't Nippon, it seems they still have some kind of connection to Kizuna. As such, whenever a refugee interacts with a Tiger Yaoguai in some meaningful way, be it accepting an order of food, complimenting them on their outfit, or purchasing one of their wares -- they'll briefly take on Tiger features. While this is mostly restricted to minor changes such as Tiger ears, a Tiger tail, or Tiger stripes, some may become more extreme, such as craving meat, hiding from crowds, or even pouncing on friends from behind.

But it's all in good fun and totally harmless! Except for those who completely transform into Tigers. Apparently this is a skill Tiger Yaoguai possess. Unfortunately, they'll have no idea how to assist a refugee in turning back, so they'll just have to wait it out.

Babysitter's Club Kannai, Yokohama
Most refugees know the pain of being separated from friends and family, but none feel this more strongly than the children who end up in Nippon. Unlike most refugees, the youngest children are placed in foster homes, and range anywhere from four to twelve years old. And while the native population of Nippon has come to see the Lantern Festival as a romantic holiday, natives from Zhongguo feel this is the most important time to spend with your family.

As such, the Yaoguai-Yokai-Hanyo Friendship Association has organized a "family banquet" for the refugee children, and has asked that adult refugees attend as well. This way, the children may find kinship in those who share the same culture. And as it turns out, a number of them do! Though they may have never met, all refugees who attend will find at least one child at the banquet who comes from the same world as them.

To facilitate this, the banquet hall is divided into dozens of tables, where guests are asked to go around in a circle and share facts and information about their world and culture, in the hopes of bridging gaps between people and making connections. But seeing as just stating facts and trivia gets dull after a while, the children suggest turning it into a game of two truth and a lie instead! And if you guess the lie correctly, there's a candy with your name on it waiting as the prize.

Just remember -- there's children here. So keep the facts kid friendly.

Fun and Games

Whether because of the diversity of the city they love, or because it's an excellent business opportunity, the Port market is running a number of special promotions throughout the festival period, and even for the rest of the month.

But given this is the Port Market, one should exercise caution and make sure to keep their guard up. After all, it may seem like an ordinary business sector on the outside, but the Port Market is Nippon's largest criminal organization, so it's not unheard of for their business schemes to play a little outside the law.

Amusement Parking Lot Port Market Territory, Yokohama
While Zhongguo Town is the center of the festivities, the actual best place for watching the lanterns is the harbor. Past the Port Market itself, a long pier serves as a bridge, connecting the waterfront to a large man-made island. And here sits the Port Market's crowning achievement: Daikokuen, the only floating amusement park in the world.

While not as robust as Osaka's Shinsekai, Daikokuen features a giant ferris wheel, a steam-powered carousel, bumper-boats out on the water, and an underwater elevator to give guests an up close look at some of the sea creatures that reside in the harbor.

The ferris wheel is perhaps the most popular attraction. With fully enclosed gondolas, a glass skylight to view the stars, and a bar offering drinks to patrons before boarding, what could possibly be more romantic? Well, how about bribing the operator to stop the wheel for an extra twenty minutes so riders can join the hundred meters high club?

Thankfully, there's an option to disembark at any point in the ride, provided you have the means of getting down, since the doors don't lock. Or is that just a safety oversight? Well, given how many people want to pause the wheel on the night of the festival, it's better than being trapped inside.

Bounce 'n Flounce Port Market Territory, Yokohama
With couples out enjoying the bright lights and atmosphere, of course businesses are going to take full advantage of this. One such business is offering special couples packages, with an additional price reduction for throuples. And even fourples! That's not a word, of course, but their sign sure says it is!

The deal includes a candelit dinner overlooking the pier, all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink for approximately one hour, and a private "fun cabin" with a skylight so they can view the lanterns floating above as they enjoy some physical intimacy.

Yeah, this one's a scam.

While the dinner is legitimate and reasonably delicious, the view is far from romantic. This is a business pier, so while they can certainly see the water, they'll also see mostly cargo ships and hear the sounds of steam-powered machinery. And not to mention that the water here isn't exactly the cleanest, either. Lovely!

But the biggest rip off of all is the "fun cabin" which is, in fact, an inflatable bouncy house disguised with prop walls to look fancier than it actually is. But hey, if you're into that kind of thing, it could still be a good time!

New Year, New Me

As the evening draws to a close, most will find their way back to Zhongguo Town for festival's finale. Thousands of small lanterns are released into the air, blanketing the sky with tiny lights that slowly fade out of sight as they ascend. And with this, so too do the people say goodbyes to who they were last year, and welcome the new year and their new selves.

Match Made in Love Kannai, Yokohama
While the Lantern Festival has come to have romantic connotations in Nippon, not everyone has a honey to celebrate the holiday with. But that's just fine, because the Yaoguai-Yokai-Hanyo Friendship Association has organized match-making services for the duration of the holiday period, with most matches taking place during the festival.

Ordinarily, match-making is a very traditional affair, often conducted between families rather than individual. However, given that many immigrants from Zhongguo have been unable to see family due to travel restrictions, the customs involved have changed, making it possible for the refugees to take advantage as well for a very low fee! And better yet: it's all for charity! So all the more reason to take part, even if just for fun!

First, participants will be asked to submit a brief profile for the match-maker to go over. Then, couples whose profiles seem to match will be chosen to sit and have tea together, with a list of questions for them to answer or discuss. Should they decide to take the next step, they'll be invited for a romantic stroll through a Zhongguo-themed garden, where the low lighting and soft music will hopefully inspire some romantic feelings...

But seeing as these aren't professional match-makers, sometimes the match-ups will be a little hit or miss. Especially in cases where sexual orientation has not been taken into consideration. Oops? Well, at least it's all for a good cause!

Snack Attack Kannai, Yokohama
Now all of this is well and good, but what about the food? Of course there's no shortage of delicious delectables to munch on over the course of the festival. But by and far, the most popular and classic dish is Tangyuan, balls of glutinous rice flour boiled in soup.

There's a variety of flavors to be found at various stalls, but one stall in particular seems to be the most popular. And it's no secret as to why: the food has been enchanted to contain a number of special effects.

The tangyuan flavored with any variety of fruit cause feelings of giddiness and excitement, causing even grouchy old men to skip on their heels like a child.

Those flavored with osmanthus flowers will act as though heavily inebriated, despite the treats containing no alcohol.

The pumpkin paste tangyuan are enchanted with a basic truth spell, but one out of every ten will instead produce a confession spell, causing them to blurt out facts at random that they may have been keeping a secret.

And finally, the ever popular sesame paste tangyuan is imbued with a love spell that causes those who share a bowl together to temporarily fall head over heels in love. Perhaps it's because this effect only works when a single bowl is shared that explains why it's the most popular...?

All of these effects are carefully detailed and explained on the menu, but only in the fine print. So it's possible a hungry customer may simply choose a flavor without thinking. But not to worry, as the effects are very mild and will wear off within a few minutes... unless you eat the whole bowl. It may take over and hour in that case.

OOC Notes
Welcome to Jikan's February event! Please direct any questions to the Question Thread in the OOC Plotting post.

• Most Lantern Festival prompts will be ICly held on the 15th, but certain prompts, such as those taking place in the Port Market, will be available all month.

• Children from player character's worlds can be nameless npcs or actual child characters from that character's canon, and may be considered auxiliary-NPCs.

• Bribes for the ferris wheel don't have to be considerable, and don't even have to be money if your character is creative!

• Yes, the bouncy house is soundproof.

↲ navigation

February | Event: Festival of Lights

1/2