 Fashion is a big part of any culture, and wearing traditional clothing and trying new things is one way to get to know a culture a little better. This was put on display recently during Masawa's second annual Yukata Fashion Show. Yukata is like a summer version kimono, and made of cotton. It's really simple and easy, and Japanese people like to wear it during summertime, especially events such as the Tanabata Festival. It was an opportunity for service members to not only assimilate themselves into local customs, but with the Japanese participants as well, it also helped strengthen relations with our hosts in the community. We met a couple people tonight that, you know, we don't speak Japanese yet, and they didn't speak English, but we were laughing about the same things and enjoying ourselves together and dancing to the music together, and that was really fun. Petty Officer Ben Larshide, Masawa Air Base, Japan.