Photos from the Naked Man Festival
[portfolio_slideshow]
Where in Hyogo can you find these scores of immobile soldiers standing at attention?
Photos from the 2012 New Year’s at Nishinomiya Shrine.
In 1954, the town of Sasayama decided to create a festival that integrated the annual Bon Odori that was previously held in the old town centre. The result was what is now known as Dekansho festival, held every 15th and 16th of August. Professional and amateur dance troupes, as well as individuals from the very young to…
So you want to see a summer festival this year? Chances are that whatever town you find yourself living in will have a perfectly lovely matsuri or three all prepared. However, if you want to venture elsewhere in our fine prefecture here’s a few you may have heard of. Dekansho Matsuri…
As winter slowly passes and spring edges closer to the hills and valleys of Japan, Valentine’s Day has already come and gone. Perhaps some of us had cause to notice, perhaps some of us didn’t. While Valentine’s Day has never been a holiday of much consequence to me personally, I did find myself very curious…
The Japanese deem the twentieth year of an individual’s life as the one which signifies the official “coming of age.” In all aspects of Japanese society, the twentieth year marks the age where teenagers are thrust into the world of adulthood, whereby they become morally, and often, economically responsible for their future. Every January, scores of teenagers experience a sudden revolution in their physical and social being, one which is marked by joyous celebrations – and in this case, long, beautifully carved wooden bows and exquisitely designed kimonos.