Meriden Daffodil Festival

We met up with friends for some fun at the Meriden Daffodil Festival.

Japanese greetings from high up on the Ferris Wheel

William and family 

Mike and Sophie

Adorable mischief maker - deciding not to listen

Expert Driver of the #10 Pace Car - He was so excited to get the green one!

What you do while you wait for the big kids to get off the teacup ride

Daffodilly silly! 

Lyman Orchards Winterfest

This weekend we went to the Lyman Orchards Winterfest. When I read the advertisement, I was so excited by the claims of ice sculptures, illuminations, an igloo village and sledding. It sounded a lot like the amazing Frozen Waterfall festival at Sounkyo in Hokkaido. So, we all dressed warmly and headed out for some wintry fun. For X-man, this fun included eating Puffs sneakily in his car seat.

As you can see in the photos, the two events weren't quite the same after all. For one thing, it was a fairly warm day for February and a lot of the snow had melted which really impacted the winter ambience. But, the medieval ice sculptures were neat. Xavier liked the knight slaying the dragon and the castle sculptures. He smiled a lot at the artist who was building a drawbridge out of ice. I liked the wizard best. As for Chris, I think he liked the delicious free samples in the Apple Barrel shop most of all. :)

Firewalking, Kyoto Style

Tonight was the Hiwatari Matsuri at Tanukidani Fudo temple in the northeast mountains of Kyoto. (For those that care, this event is also sometimes referred to as Sennichi Mairi Hiwatari-sai.) It was a really fun festival - one that we had been looking forward to for months. The basic idea was that everyone walks across ash and hot coals while praying for protection from illness and misfortunes. A chance to walk on hot coals! Who could possibly pass that up?

The festival was officiated by a group of yamabushi, or mountain monks. They chanted several sutras and said prayers while lighting a huge bonfire of wooden planks arranged in a square and covered with cypress leaves. They also had one priest wave a haraigushi (wand with zigzag strips of white paper) over the area to purify it. Even though the evening was rainy, the bonfire still sprang to life almost instantly upon being lit. While the fire roared, stacks of gomagi (wooden sticks with prayers written on them) were thrown into the fire. The yamabushi, together with Buddhist pilgrims in white robes, continued to recite prayers over the burning flames. Adding to the other-worldly atmosphere, were the sounds of monks blowing on conch shells and drumming.

When the fire calmed down somewhat and the wooden planks started to collapse, the monks broke down the bonfire with rakes. Then, the ash, coals and remaining wood pieces were spread and raked to form a path. I'd guess the path was about 10 meters long. Most of the red coals and embers were pushed to the sides of the path. So, it wasn't really that long or that hot.

Finally, it was time to begin the firewalking. The monks and pilgrims walked across first, cutting the ropes at both the beginning and end of the path. Behind the monks, a long line of eager participants followed. We placed ourselves near the back of the line hoping to get an idea of what to expect before we were called on to take part. Before setting out across the embers, each barefoot participant was given a red paper amulet and blessed. Upon successfully walking over the coals, each person was blessed again.

We were surprised to find that the coals did not feel hot on our feet. Most days, the sand at any given beach is hotter! At the outset, I was almost giddy with anticipation and had set up some pretty high expectations. I'm happy to report that the experience did not disappoint. I challenge you to go firewalking, Kyoto style. You'll be purified and protected... and you'll like it.

Nagoshi no Harai - Purification Festival

You may remember that on New Year's Eve in Japan, many temples and shrines have "Joya no Kane", or a tradition where a bell is solemnly rung 108 times. This follows the Buddhist belief that man has 108 sins and that by hearing the bells toll 108 times people can undergo a purification and rid themselves of their sins and troublesome desires at the end of the year.

Now that the year is half over, we have all had time to rack up a new set of bad deeds and sins.

So, of course, there's another purification festival - Nagoshi no Harai. This festival is held sometime in the last weeks of June or first weeks of July each year. Each shrine has a slightly different schedule.

In Nagoshi no Harai, people atone for their sins in the first half of the year, and pray for their health in the reminder of the year by walking through a chinowa, a giant circular wreath made of a kind of rush called chigaya (ちがや) in Japanese.

I went with my friend Sandra to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, the shrine with the largest chinowa in Kyoto, for this festival. I'm not sure that I completely believe in the ability to be purified and to have the next six months of good health guaranteed by walking through a wreath. But, I like the idea - so I tried it.
As you can see from the diagram, there is a specific way you must walk through the chinowa. First, you walk through the wreath towards the main building in the shrine complex. Then, you walk to the left and around the outside. Next, you walk through the chinowa again, but this time you walk to the right and around the outside. Then, you pass through the wreath a third and final time, leaving by walking to the left.

Fascinating, desu ne?

Tanabata Matsuri

I haven't told you about many festivals lately, so I thought I'd let you know about today's fun festival... Tanabata. It is a star festival derived from an old Chinese holiday called Qi Xi.

This festival is one part astronomy, two parts love story.

Part 1:
In the night sky, there are two constellations that only meet once a year, on July 7th. These constellations are Vega (Orihime - a weaver princess) and Altair (Hikoboshi - a cow herder).

Parts 2 & 3:
Orihime and Hikoboshi were both young workaholics. She weaved beautiful cloth all day and he tended to his cattle all the time. One day, these two met and fell instantly in love. Thus, they spent all of their time together and neglected their jobs - no new cloth was woven and the cattle all became sick. This angered her father, so he separated them. Then, they were so sad, they couldn't work anyway. So, Orihime's father decided to allow them to meet once a year. That way, the work could be done and they could see each other again. (Wow, what a deal!)

To help us learn about the celebration, my Japanese class threw a Tanabata party on Friday.

We learned that the way that this festival is celebrated is more fun than the story. Typically, you write wishes on colorful paper strips (tanzaku) and hang those wishes on a Tanabata bamboo tree. Other colorful decorations are also put on the tree. For example, people often hang origami cranes symbolizing long life, nets symbolizing fishing, good harvests and the Milky Way, and long streamers symbolizing the threads that Orihime used to weave.

Later, the tree and all the decorations can be burned or floated down a river so that the wishes all come true. Although, I'm pretty sure that the Tanabata tree that we decorated in my Japanese class will just be dismantled and put away. No fire for us. :(

I made a delicious cheesecake decorated with strawberries and blueberries since the date of our party was also the 4th of July. I figured it would be fun to learn about Tanabata while teaching my classmates and senseis the words to Yankee Doodle and America the Beautiful. They were both received well, but I'm pretty sure the cheesecake was a bigger hit. Then, the senseis taught us all a traditional Tanabata song.

ささのは　サラサラ　のきばにゆれる (Bamboo leaves are rustling under the eaves)
おほしさま キラキラ　きんぎんすなご (Stars are twinkling like gold and silver sand in the sky.)
ごしきのたんざくわたしがかいた (Some pieces of fancy paper on which we wrote out wishes.)
おほしさま キラキラ そらからみてる(Stars are twinkling and looking at the scene on the earth.)

You can try to sing along with my senseis. They are doing the 3rd and 4th lines here. Good Luck!

Big Ass Cup o' Tea

This Sunday, Rieko and I went to a really fun festival - the Ōchamori-shiki at Saidai-ji Temple in Nara. The festival was basically a tea ceremony, but one like no other in Japan. In this festival, which is held every April and October, they use giant chawan (tea bowls) to serve the tea.

Not only were the tea bowls huge, but so were all of the utensils used in the tea ceremony. They had a enormous natsume filled with over a liter of matcha powder. They purified it with a ridiculously sized fukusa (square silk cloth). It was funny to watch the monk try to fold it perfectly given its unwieldy nature. The chasen (tea whisk) was massive! Instead of holding it sort of gracefully between his thumb and forefinger, the monk had to use his whole hand. And, the chashaku (tea scoop) was epic. Just imagine how much matcha he added with each scoop and a half. Sweet! Whisking the tea with the massive chasen had to be fun. The monk looked like he was enjoying himself, even though he really had to put some elbow grease in.

Since everything was so gigantic, each chawan held five servings of tea instead of just one. Due to the size and weight of the bowl plus the tea (roughly 7-8kg), the first few people to drink from each chawan needed to have their neighbors help them to hold the bowl while they took their sips. Thankfully, the sweets were normal size.

Looking back on this post, I guess I used a lot of "technical" tea terms... sorry! So, let me sum up the experience for you. I had a big ass cup o' tea prepared by a monk using comically oversized tea utensils. I loved it!

Plum Blossoms are in Bloom!

On February 25th, Kitano Tenmangu Shrine held its annual Baika-sai Plum Blossom Viewing. This festival is a "Nodate" or outdoor tea ceremony hosted by geiko and maiko beneath the beautiful plum blossoms at the shrine.

Because of my Japanese class and tutoring schedule, I missed the actual tea ceremony, but I was still able to enter Sugawara Michizane's plum orchard, enjoy some plum blossom sweets and admire the blooms on my own. They say there are about 2000 plum trees in the orchard with most of the blossoms being either pink or white. It was beautiful and very peaceful.

Perhaps you were wondering... Who is Sugawara Michizane? Well, he was a scholar and politician from the Heian-era (9th c.) who is sort of the patron saint of Kitano Tenmangu shrine. In fact, his nickname "Tenjin-san" is the also the name of the monthly flea-market held on the shrine grounds. The Baika-sai festival has evolved from a prayer ceremony held at his death to ask for repose for his soul. It is said that he was crazy about plum (ume) trees!

I can understand his enthusiasm because the plum is associated with the start of spring, being among the first flowers to bloom. For Kyoto residents, the arrival of spring should mean finally being able to turn off our wimpy space heaters (glorified toasters) and to stop wearing fleeces and/or coats inside. I can only assume that winter felt even colder in the 9th c. since heaters and the like were not around. It's no wonder Tenjin-san loved this harbinger of warmer days.

All together now... Welcome Plum Blossoms! Welcome Spring!

Girly Flower Fun

In honor of Girls Day (especially since it isn't a National Holiday like Boys Day on 5/5!), we made special Hina Matsuri arrangements this week in ikebana class. I liked the arrangement because it is colorful and feels springy, it was easy to make and everything carries a special symbolism.

To begin with, we used peach blossoms. As the flower most associated with the holiday, using the pink blossoms made a lot of sense. Here, we used two clusters of branches - a tall set on the left representing the male doll, Emperor or O-dairi-sama and a shorter set on the right representing the female doll, Empress or O-hina-sama.

Two pink sweet peas symbolized the O-hina-sama's feminine kimono while the three purple sweet peas represented the O-dairi-sama's masculine kimono. This symbolism seemed especially apt to me since it matched with tea ceremony where women use red fukusa (silk cloth) and men use purple fukusa.

Using origami adornments, we gave the O-hina-sama an open fan and the O-dairi-sama a folded fan similar to the always-folded fan in tea ceremony that shows respect and politeness and represents being a guest. Neither ikebana-sensei nor any of my fellow students could remember the name of this ceremonial item. If, for some reason, you know what it's called, please clue me in. :)

The three ranunculus (red flowers) in the front represented the three maids/court maidens that serve the O-dairi-sama and the O-hina-sama.

The rape blossoms (yellow flowers) were placed on both sides to represent bonbori - special lights that usually have painted shades. We also added origami balloons to represent these.

Then we added the rape blossom leaves and other feathery greenery just to even things out at the bottom of the arrangement.

Happy Girls Day!

Happy Girls Day everyone!

Here in Japan, we celebrate Hina Matsuri/Girls Day (also known as Dolls Festival), on March 3rd.

The most obvious thing that I've noticed about the holiday is that putting dolls out for display on a tiered staircase-like stand is common. The displays are in people's houses as well as in some stores/businesses. They are meant to protect the future health and happiness of the family's daughters. The top row of these displays (regardless of whether they are 1, 3, 5 or 7 tiers tall) always has an Emperor and Empress doll on a red carpet in front of a gold screen. Our landlords gave us this awesome origami display for Hina-matsuri. Sweet!

My ikebana sensei mentioned that peach blossoms are traditionally associated with Girls Day as are the colors red and white. There are also special Girls Day sweets - mostly diamond shaped mochi rice cakes and small rice crackers in red/pink, white and green. She also showed me a musical display where all the doll figurines were anthropomorphic rabbits that played a special Girls Day song called Ureshii Hinamatsuri. It was, as expected, absurdly cute!

One of my Japanese teachers added that amazake (sweet, non-alcoholic sake) is a customary drink and that families typically put the displays away quickly after the holiday ends because of a superstition that to fail to do so will result in their daughters having a hard time finding a husband!

The doll sets can be quite elaborate and sometimes are considered "family treasures" that are passed down from generation to generation. And, if there is no family heirloom set, one doll up to an entire Hina Matsuri display is a traditional present for grandparents to give to granddaughters on the 1st Hina Matsuri after she is born.

Yuki Matsuri Photos

Hey everyone,

Renée put together a web page of photos for the Sapporo snow festival (not to be confused with the Hokkaido photos previously mentioned). The link is here. This festival, in the heart of downtown, certainly had the most impressive sculptures. In addition to statues by individual artists, there were several large works (the Sphinx, Big Ben, and a Japanese castle).

You can read more about this particular festival on their own (English!) web site.

Sapporo Snow Festival

Rounding out our trip to Hokkaido earlier this month, we attended the 59th Sapporo Yuki Matsuri or Snow Festival. Actually, this awesome festival was inspiration for our long weekend trip.

Beginning in 1950 with six small statues, this festival has snowballed (ha!) into something of epic proportions. Each winter, numerous ice and snow sculptures now line the streets around Odori Park, the grounds at Sato-Land, and the main street in Susukino.

We only had a chance to explore Odori Park, but since that is the location for the largest, most detailed and most impressive sculptures, we were not too disappointed. (Although, there was a snow maze in Sato-Land that Chris and I had really hoped to see. Next time, I guess.)

The Odori Park area was made up of 12 square blocks with a huge sculpture or statue per block.
Since we were visiting the large festival area as part of a tour, we had limited time and had to hurry around a bit. I learned that icy ground and hurrying do not combine well. And to think... I laughed at the "suckers" on our tour bus who actually bought snow-spikes from the guides to snap on to the soles of their shoes. Whoops!

As the afternoon turned to dusk, things lit up. Christmas lights were in all of the nearby trees. Several of the ice based sculptures were lit in bright colors and the snow based sculptures were mostly lit in white light to show off the attention to detail. Better still, were the few sculptures like "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" that were part of the "Pageant of Light and Sound." We didn't actually stay to see this, but the idea was that moving lights and music would bring the sculptures to life to tell a story. Similarly, the Nissin Cup O' Noodles sponsored "Freedom" sculpture featured a continuous DVD of animated shorts projected on an incorporated flat wall.

To sum up, even with the slipping and falling, the Sapporo Snow Festival lived up to my expectations. Considering how high they were, that's an impressive feat!

I will make a photo page of this festival soon. Stay tuned.

Frozen Waterfalls

For our trip to Hokkaido, we booked a package deal through a travel agency. This was an adventure since we were the only two non-Japanese on the 45 person tour. On the long drives between the sights all weekend, we learned a lot of interesting information from our tour guides, but it was exhausting to hear them continually talking while trying to process what we heard. I think I've figured out why toddlers sleep so much.

The first winter festival we attended in Hokkaido was the Sounkyo Frozen Waterfall Festival. (aka Hyobaku Ice Festival) Sounkyo is a small city in a formerly volcanic mountainous area in central Hokkaido famous for its river gorge, waterfalls, and hot springs (onsens). It is within the boundaries of Daisetsuzan National Park and is absolutely beautiful. Being somewhat difficult to get to, it still feels like "real" wilderness.

The festival itself was a freezing winter fantasy land with giant ice castles, ice pillars, dozens of corporate sponsored igloos, ice sculptures, and of course, frozen waterfalls lit up with colored lights. The festival was located along the Ishikari River, which was not frozen and provided many scenic views.

One highlight was the tube sledding course that was carved into the flatlands along the side of the river. We rented an inner tube and I went sledding down the hills several times. It was so much fun! Since it was snowing while we were there, the sledding was even better... but maybe a little bit colder too.

Winter Festivals Teaser

Two weekends ago we went to Hokkaido to see three winter festivals. It was so much fun! Here is a short video of me enjoying sledding at the festival in Sounkyo, in the center of Hokkaido. The area is famous for beautiful gorges, cliffs and onsens.

Setsubun Demons and Fire

Here is a video of the red, blue and yellow demons scaring spectators at the Setsubun event "Tsuina-shiki" at Yoshida Jinja on February 2nd. I'd like to second the motion for "Demons Out, Luck in" please!



And, here is another video. This one is of the Fire Invocation at Yoshida Jinja on February 3rd. On the left-hand side of the video, you can see shrine priests throwing bags of good luck charms into the fire at the last minute. Sugoi desu ne!

Setsubun: Bean Throwing Festival

This past weekend, we celebrated Setsubun. It is a festival tied to the Lunar (Chinese) New Year. It is supposed to mark the seasonal division between winter and spring. Although, I'm pretty sure winter is still here.

Many shrines throughout Kyoto and Japan held special events/rituals over the weekend. Most of the Setsubun activities are intended to cleanse evil from the past year, to drive away demons that bring evil and to bring good luck for the new year ahead.

At Yasaka Jinja, a famous shrine in the Gion region, they began their Setsubun rites with Maiko dances. Four colorfully adorned maikos (apprentice geishas) performed a beautiful and very graceful dance with fans.

Afterwards, the maikos joined with the priests of the shrine for mamemaki, or bean scattering. They threw small white packets of dried soybeans into the crowd. Due to my good placement in the crowd and my relative height advantage, I caught two packets! During the bean throwing we were supposed to shout "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" which means "Demons out! Luck in!"

According to one of my students, for those that catch the dried beans, it is customary to eat one soybean for each year in your age. This is part of "bringing the luck in." Another way to start the new year's luck is to buy raffle tickets and see what prizes you win. At Yasaka Jinja, we won a bottle of sake and some tofu soup mix. I'm hoping that the online raffle for Yoshida Jinja goes a little better for us. :)

At Yoshida Jinja, a shrine near Kyoto University, they celebrated Setsubun on both Saturday and Sunday. This was especially exciting because it meant that the nearby streets would be lined with carnival style booths selling foods, games, toys, etc... for the entire weekend. Highlights from these booths include things like tako-yaki (Octopus balls), Sweet Potato sticks (slightly sweet and thick fries), Yakisoba (a delicious noodle dish) and Choco-bananas on sticks!

On Saturday, Yoshida Jinja had an event called Tsuina-shiki. Spectators lined up on both sides of a path through the central area of the shrine. Then, there was a procession with priests, children carrying torches, priestesses, archers and three demons. One demon was red, another was blue and the third one was yellow. Each carried a large weapon and ran down the path pausing to growl and scare children. A few kids were crying, but mostly everyone was having a great time! Then, a priest, dressed as a red-masked God representing luck, comes and "scares" the demons away. Again with the Demons Out, Luck in theme.

On Sunday, there was a "Fire Invocation" called Karosai at 11:00pm. This was simply amazing!

To begin with, there is a giant cylindrical cage nearly 8 meters tall. This cage is filled with all sorts of good luck items. For example, people threw in strips of paper with wishes/good luck messages written on them. Also included were wooden prayer cards accumulated at the shrine over the past year, amulets, good luck charms, small Daruma dolls, rakes with faces of the Luck Gods on them and at least one giant stuffed tiger!

Then, this cage was blessed by a priest and priestess using a paper-covered branch and ceremonial bells respectively. After the blessing, they set the entire thing on fire! As you can imagine the fire was huge, very bright and very warm. Being lucky enough to get a front row spot, I got to warm my toes very effectively! It was really fun.

And... yes Moms, it was safe. Kyoto firemen were there, in fabulous silver uniforms, spraying water on the sparks that ventured too close to neighboring trees.

Bull's Eye!

On Sunday, I attended the Kyudo Archery Competition at Sanjusangendo Temple. It was a very fun and colorful festival! This ceremony stems from the Toh-shiya (Piercing Arrow) contest which started in the 16th century.
Back in the day, the aim was to compete to be the archer who did the best over a 24 hour period, from a distance of roughly 120 meters! It was a grueling competition and a true test of stamina.

Now, instead of being a "true competition", each archer gets two arrows to shoot at targets which are 60 meters away. Roughly 2000 archers participated this year, most of whom were 20-year old women on the eve of celebrating Seijin no hi (Coming of Age Day.) Amazingly, this is a national holiday. Everyone got the day off on Monday!

Although some professional archers and young men also participated, the highlight was the hundreds of 20 year old girl archers. Each of them wore beautiful and colorful kimonos. They also had ornate hairstyles and hair clips/flowers. As a result, thousands of visitors flocked to Sanjusangendo to watch, photograph and enjoy this festival. Due to the distance from the targets and the difficulty of using the giant bows, a majority of archers missed the target entirely. Regardless, every archer received a certificate of participation.
At the same time, inside Sanjusangendo Temple, the Yanagi no Okaji (Rite of the Willow) was being celebrated. This is a Buddhist ritual using holy water that has been prayed over by the monks for seven consecutive days. A monk then sprinkles the water over visitors with a willow branch. Willow trees are believed to have painkilling properties. This ceremony is believed to draw out evil, cure and prevent illnesses.

It was very interesting to participate in this rite. I held my hands in prayer and bowed my head slightly as the monk sprinkled me with water. It reminded me very much of the rite in Catholic masses during the Easter season where the priest sprinkles the congregation with holy water using an aspergillum. A strange addition to this ceremony though, was the presence of the media. Press photographers were there to capture the event on camera. I know that several shots were being taken of me as I was blessed. It sort of intruded on the peaceful moment. But, of course, I still thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to participate!

Ikebana Offering

Shimogamo Shrine had a Thanksgiving (not our US holiday, just a giving of thanks) festival where students of different classic arts like ikebana could "offer" their new skills to the shrine deity in thanks. The students would then receive a gift of "hand-me-downs" from God. In my case, I received Clementine oranges and sweet rice cake triangles. Mmm.

We went on Tuesday evening to create our arrangements. My ikebana sensei had around twenty students participating in the event, including me and Tanaka-san, my landlord's wife. Each student was given a different vase and different flowers to use for their offering.

My arrangement was entirely constructed from different types of chrysanthemums. Tanaka-san's arrangement used a branch of winter sakura (cherry blossom), mums and a tree branch with red leaves. I think all of the arrangements came out very well, ours included. :)

On Wednesday, visitors could come to the shrine and admire the different offerings. In addition to all the flower arrangements, there were samples of traditional Japanese calligraphy, singers and musicians performing music and offerings of fruits and vegetables.

Shichi-Go-San

In the Heian Period (794-1185) a ritual called Shichi-Go-San or Seven-Five-Three was developed by nobles to celebrate rites of passage for their three year old girls, five year old boys and seven year old girls.

Three - originally the age at which samurai children stopped shaving their heads
Five - Boys are allowed to wear their first hakama (samurai formal bottom wear)
Seven - Girls are allowed to wear an obi around their kimonos instead of a plain cord

The modern version of this celebration involves dressing up the children and going to shrines to be blessed with health and longevity. The children get decorative bags with crane and turtle designs as well as chitose-ame (1000 year candy) that looks like a huge, straight candy cane which is supposed to ensure a long life and probably a sugar high. :)

7-5-3 takes place at many shrines throughout Kyoto in the weeks surrounding November 15th. I went to Heian Shrine to check it out. Practicing my Japanese in "a real life setting" as recommended by my sensei, I congratulated several families on their children's milestones and asked if I could take some photos. It was really fun and the kids were absurdly adorable!
とてもとてもかわいいですね！

Kurama Fire Festival

Monday was a busy festival day! In addition to Jidai Matsuri, we also attended the Kurama no Hi Matsuri in Kurama, a town to the north of Kyoto at the end of the Eizan subway line.

It is famous for being the home to gods, demons and superheroes - such as the tengu. Riding the subway there and back was an adventure. Even going several hours early and leaving before the festival was completely over, the trains were packed.

The Fire Festival is said to help lead spirits through the human realm by the light of pine torches. It is also a reenactment of visits by torchbearers that the emperor used to send from the palace to the village during Kyoto's Imperial years.

But, history aside -- it was really cool. I'm beginning to think I like festivals, fire, and especially fire festivals. In the fun fire sense it reminded me of the festival "Las Hogueras de San Juan" in Alicante, España.

Also, the children that began the torch procession were adorable. Several of them were very shy and only remembered to chant "Sai-rei! Sai-ryo!" after their parents or siblings shouted it first.

Another notable thing - the Kyoto Visitor's Guide book, a magazine that comes out monthly telling tourists about fun seasonal events, felt the need to add the following warning to their Kurama no Hi Matsuri write up: "Tourists should remember that the Fire Festival is NOT an opportunity to get loud and drunk. It is an ancient private village ritual (made public by the 2oth century) that should be respected. To be there is a privilege." Wow! What a great reputation we foreigners have here in Japan. :)

Jidai Matsuri

On Monday, we had the chance to go see the Jidai Matsuri aka Festival of the Ages. The video shows a graceful dance that kicked off the parade.

Because we are foreign residents in Kyoto and called very early to inquire, we got special seats through the Kyoto International Community House. We were in a roped off area with chairs located right in front of City Hall. The folks sitting with us were mostly college students studying in Japan for a semester abroad. Interestingly, they seemed to speak Spanish, Italian and Korean more than English.

The festival started in 1895 to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of Kyoto being named the Imperial city. (Kyoto was the capital from 794 until 1867 when the capital was moved to Tokyo.) The first Jidai Matsuri also marked the opening of Heian Jingu shrine which is a scaled down model of Kyoto's original imperial palace. If any of you come to visit us in late spring or early summer we can show you the GLORIOUS irises that grow in Heian Shrine's gardens.

Anyway, about 2000 festival participants paraded from Kyoto's Imperial Palace towards Heian Jingu Shrine dressed in costumes dating from each of the important periods in Kyoto's history. Many of the costumes were amazingly beautiful. However, the Edo Period footmen were the most fun. They carried trunks and tall spears and periodically chanted and threw them to each other. Since the spears were very tall and trunks very heavy - they got a great crowd reaction!