Post-sightseeing ice cream. From left: Milky (that’s Peko-chan with the ponytails), a green tea/red bean/milk bar, and green tea Coolish. (I don’t recommend the one in the middle — nice texture, but syrupy sweet.)
All the Japan guidebooks I’ve seen warn that it’s considered rude in this country to eat and walk on the street at the same time. Eating while walking at festivals is an exception, and some say that ice cream is okay. Mari and I have a routine that whenever we eat and walk, I ask her, “Are we being rude?” She answers, “I don’t mind.”
Well, it was a hot day and we’d been walking a lot, and despite what polite society may think proper, the three of us — Mari, her mom and I — ate our ice cream while strolling down the street, AND WE ENJOYED IT.