The Exciting "Hozuki Market"!

#20250709-558

Wednesday, July 9, 2025
The "Hozuki Market" held every year on July 9th and 10th is one of my favorite events.
Mu-kun (my husband) has work and Noko (my daughter, 5th grade) has plans, so we can't always go every year, but I keep a close eye on my schedule book, hoping to make it if I can.

If we go this year, it has to be the 9th.
It overlaps with Noko's lesson, but she isn't looking forward to it enough to skip it. Mu-kun will be home from work in the evening. We'll leave the house together as a family of three, Noko will go to her lesson, Mu-kun and I will go to the Hozuki Market, we'll return before her lesson ends, and the three of us will head home together.
This seems doable.
When I said, "I'll buy you a souvenir" at the station ticket gate, Noko smiled and waved.

Our time in Asakusa is 40 minutes.
In that time, I have to find a hozuki (Chinese lantern plant) I like.
Asakusa at dusk has a wonderful atmosphere, and my spirits lift instantly. The sun sets, and the lights in Nakamise-dori are turned on. The sky above is deepening in color, though the edges are still faintly white. The people passing by seem just as restless as I am.
I already pass people heading home with pots of hozuki in their hands.
Even the persistent humidity of the past few days feels a little more bearable once the sun goes down.

The prices for hozuki are the same everywhere.
Potted plants are 3,000 yen, branches with about 10 hozuki are 2,000 yen, and a basket with 5 hozuki fruits is 1,000 yen, or 500 yen without the basket.
So, there's no need to worry about it.
The wind chimes hanging in a row make a cool, refreshing sound together in the breeze.
The charms shaped like hozuki are also adorable.
Even though there's no need to worry, I find myself wandering between the hozuki stalls with my eyes darting around.
Our family always buys a branch.
I look for a shop with branches that have the best-shaped hozuki.

There was a stall where they were lining up hozuki that had been kept in water on a stand.
The hozuki that had just been taken out of the water looked beautiful and vibrant.
I bought one branch there.

Now, next is the souvenir for the lesson teacher that Mu-kun suggested.
To make sure it wouldn't be bulky for the teacher to carry home, I chose the one with 5 hozuki fruits. I picked one in a basket with a tag that said "Hozuki Market." The opening of the clear plastic bag was tied tightly with a string, and with the orange color of the hozuki, it looked just like a bag for carrying home goldfish from a scoop-the-goldfish game.
For Noko's souvenir, I chose baby castella. Noko definitely prefers "dumplings over flowers" (substance over style).

It's time to go.
Mu-kun said he wanted to look at a model train shop, but I'll have to ask him to give that up today. We trot through the station ticket gate, board the train, and head to where Noko has her lesson.
Just as Noko was coming out of the classroom, I handed her the hozuki for her teacher, and she went back to the teacher with a huge smile, bouncing along.
The teacher knew about the "Hozuki Market" but had never been there and had never seen hozuki fruits up close.
While handing over the hozuki, I also explained about "skeletonized hozuki".

Hozuki are just like lanterns. They look great on a dark road.
Noko is already reaching into the bag of baby castella.
My cheeks naturally relax and I find myself grinning at the swaying hozuki fruits.
"Nice, nice."
When I lift the branch to eye level and admire it from different angles, Mu-kun, standing beside me, laughs.

After getting home, I decorated the top of the living room closet door with the hozuki branch. It looks good, and I find myself glancing at it again and again.
This year, I was able to go to the "Hozuki Market" safely.
How wonderful, how wonderful.