Zenshuji Obon Carnival — 68th Annual (Little Tokyo, Los Angeles)

It would run whether or not anyone outside the neighborhood ever heard about it. That is the part people miss about the oldest Japanese summer festivals in this city — they were never built for an audience. They exist because a congregation shows up for itself every July, no reason required.

The temple has anchored Little Tokyo's religious life for more than a century, and the carnival in its lot has been running since the fifties. The Zendeko taiko group plays. Booths sell sushi, somen, and andagi. The games are the same games they have been for decades, worn soft at the edges the way things get when children keep winning at them. In the evening the bon odori opens to anybody willing to learn the steps by watching first and then joining.

Free, on South Hewitt Street in Little Tokyo, midday until evening.

Go for the andagi. Stay for the circle.