Tokyo St. Patrick's Parade Behind the Scenes

I promise I will cool it on the St. Patrick's Day coverage, but I just had a few more things to say and pictures to share...

The parade went fabulously! I arrived in Tokyo at about 11am, had a quick lunch with Dermot before we walked down to check-in. I changed from my train riding wear into my official queendom outfit and was off to take pictures and make sure my tiara stayed put. We congregated in an elementary school yard, where we got lined up and ready to walk. 

The parade took place on what is essentially "main street" of Tokyo, so the the hours in which the street was allowed to be shut down was very strict. At 2pm on the button, we began processing down the road, waving, and handing out stickers to onlooking kids. The other VIPs and I created a line of sashes and smiles. 

The VIP group consisted of: 

Ambassador John Neary and his wife, Mary

Irish Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, who was flown in for the parade

Chairman of the Irish Network Japan, Howard Barr 

Grand Marshal Dermot Killoran 

Parade Queen Kate Bohan

It was such a great day! I am so thankful to have had soooo many friends there supporting me and enjoying the festivities. Thank you guys so much!

I'll stop talking now and let you look at the pics. ;)

The first few were taken by my friends Taiki and Sayaka with their cameras from the sidelines, essentially what you would have seen if you were there. The last few were from my iphone, a behind the scenes peak if you will. 

Photo by Taiki.

Photo by Taiki.

Photo by Taiki.

Photo by Taiki.

Photo by Sayaka.

Photo by Sayaka.

Photo by Sayaka.

Photo by Sayaka.

Photo by Sayaka.
For the record, they asked me to dance on the table...

Queen's eye view of the pre and post parade madness.

Train travelin.

Bagpipes.

Stickers.

St. Patrick himself.

Met these two lovely ladies Friday night at dinner. They had been flown in for the parade and had both worked with Michael Flatley. I was just a touch starstruck. Deirdre Shannon is the one on the right. 

What we walked out to just prior to the parade beginning. 

Elementary school kids from the earthquake affected region. 

Loved this little girl.
She turned to me, dead serious, and said, "Are you queen forever?"
"Nooo. I wish! Only today and Wednesday."
"Oh..."
But then I tried on her hat and we were BFF. 

Parade route.

After party mayhem.

Queen for a day,

Kate

P.S. The Tokyo parade made the Irish news!

                                                                         [The Latest]

Oh ya, my mom and good family friend Carol are here! ;) 

More on that later.