On sunny beautiful day of early summer, one of the biggest festival in
The AOI-matsuri-festival. Those Heian costume is so gorgeous and impressed many people on the street. I was moved by horse riding ceremony in Kamigamo-shrine .
Green Green May! The Iris Laevigata”Kakitsubata” is fully blooming silently at Ota shrine near the Kamigamo-shrine. Reina
How do you celebrate St.Valentine's day in your country? In Japan, we females, give chocolates to whom we like very much and when they stay together, females do the same. I have been thinking that is not fair, though. It's always girls who need to have a courage to say how we care about boys on the 14th Feb!! Anyway, there's a Valentine's day-atomosphere in the town and I see many girls trying to buy the best chocolate for the day. I wonder how males would feel when they receive chocolates from females...It might be an exciting day for men!! On the other hand, boys are supposed to give something back to girls on the 14th March and this day is called White Day in Japan.
If you have got a chance to visit Japan around 14th Feb, for females, why don't you buy some chocolates for someone special in your country? For males...we'll see.
How are you?
I went to Hiroshima's food festival last weekend with Miyoung (hiroshima staff).
There were about 350 booths with many kinds of food ,as well as agricultural and marine products of Hiroshima.
We had a fun time walking around and watching KAGURA dance there.
I used to watched KAGURA (shinto music and dance numbers) when I was a child.
But It wasn't fun ti do.I was just bored during the KAGURA so I thought this one wouldn't be any different.
but in about 30min. I started to enjoy it.The costumes were brightly colored.Both the costumes as well as dancing were very enjoyable to watch.
You can see KAGURA performance which is a local festival in Japan!
Jidai-matsuri is one of the 3 biggest festivals of
This year, my father (right in the photo) participated in the parade as a subordinate samurai serving General Kusunoki Masashige, who is one of the most popular samurais in Japanese medieval times. I was surprised to know that the person who performs him (Kusunoki Masashige) pays all the cost for his group of about 30 people. It is 2,000,000 yen ! He has to spend such a big money at the end of the hard work. A boss should need a lot of money no matter when it is …
Therefore, on the day, my father really enjoyed the parade of course for free. I hope he doesn’t start saying something he wants to be a bosshead of the parade next year …
And if you're staying at our Kyoto guesthouse you won't be in lack of good recommandations either. There is a famous website called "Kyoto visitor guide" which you could also get as a free monthly paper magazine (of course we have it at J-Hoppers). This magazine is full of interesting places to stay, visit, eat, do shopping, ... and they publish every month the list of almost all the events occuring in Kyoto. It's well done, it's needed, it enhances your trip, ... and you may see some of my pics inside ! How could you miss it ?? ;-)
The sun is bright. The air is humid. Sweat is running.Here comes summer. Time for matsuri (festival).
There are tons of matsuris in Japan, and most of them are taken place in summer. This might be not neccesary to tell, but, in case you do not know about it. One of the biggest and worthful festival, Gion Matsuri, is held in July (Yes. It's already started on 1st July).
The origin of this lively matsuri can be traced back to the early Heian period (A.D. 869), it was a matsuri to stop a series of devastating plagues. As time goes by, Gion Matsuri took in many different styles such as musicians, dances, comic plays, and artistic treasures and hokos (floats) got heavier with them. The heaviest float is amazingly 12 tons !! The floats are made of wood and they built up without any nails, tied toghether with only ropes. Watching local people set up a float in a sweat should be very interesting. You might see 3 generations, a grandfather, a father and a son, take part in the biggest festival in Kyoto.