Le festival des lanternes géantes à Isshiki (一色大提灯まつり）

26.August. 2007
On peut admirer d’énormes lanternes en papier de 5,6 mètres de diamètre et 10 de hauteur..... Ils sont vraiment vraiment énormes.......

This festival features enormous chochin (paper lanterns), also known as "amazingly gigantic lanterns," which measure over 5 meters in diameter and 10 meters in length. The 12 sets of paper lanterns appearing at the festival are depicted with pictures and Chinese characters which embody all kinds of meanings and stories. The scene of the Dai-Chochin Tsuriage when the huge brightly-colored paper lanterns are hoisted up very slowly is just breathtaking.


The festival originates in a legend dating back about 450 years. At that time, a fire usually ignited to illuminate the surroundings for patrolling was lit at Suwa Shrine in order to drive away sea demons which emerged from the sea, ravaging the fields and bringing serious harm upon the inhabitants. Ever since then, it became the custom to ignite kagari-bi as a Shinto ritual at the festival. These kagari-bi were later replaced by chochin lanterns and competition to produce the biggest and most gorgeous lanterns has resulted in their present form.


The most exciting scene of the festival is when gigantic 1-meter tall candles are lit inside the enormous chochin lanterns. As soon as the candles are lit, the colorful motifs of famous Japanese myths, etc. depicted on the chochin lanterns appear, creating a world of fantasy. This is truly a moment of Japanese myths and old folktales being passed down through the generations. Spectators also experience a pleasant sense of excitement as if witnessing a historic scene.

It was a bit of a shame that the strong lights of the food stands below the lanterns weakened the subtle lights of the lantern....... However, there was one stand which caught my attention...... My attention...... My attention...... i.e. Masks!!!! It is one of the bizzarre traditions in Japan, there are always, always masks of Anime characters at summer festivals. I must admit I was tempted. Very tempted. Weeeeey!!!

What to do on your only day off in Hazu

Not much.

1. Wear Geta and sit by the porch and think of what to do.

2. Look up and see the blue sky beneath the roof of the temple and think some more.


3. Feed the straycats.

4. Go to the shrine on top of the mountain and draw a fortune..... and get 'great fortune' yay. It says..........Stocks:Sell it or lose it.

5. Jump on the bike and head to the beach.

6.Dip your feet in the water on the shore and get totally wasted.

7. Get your big bum soaked.

Tejikara no Himatsuri part 2

Also, I didn't know there were crepes by Louis Vuitton!?!?!?!?

手力の火祭り(Tejikara no Himatsuri) in Gifu City

I have never, ever seen anything like this before. I was taught to watch fireworks from a far distance, preferably at home, or preferebly not at all. Never have I dreamed of getting close to it, or jump into the fire.

Perhaps I didn't know anything about life before.




It's a shame I can't put the smell of the smoke and the sound of the firecrackers up on this blog. Mindblowing. Semi-naked men jumping into the fireworks and sparkles and firecrackers. Whatever they were, looked pretty painful.

On the NIC(Nagoya International Center) website, it says.....: An exciting fire festival will be held on August 12th at Nagara-gawa Park in Gifu. From around 6:45 to 9:00pm, men carrying a mikoshi portable shrine run through torrents of fire sparks, and the mikoshi itself will also begin to spew flames from planted fireworks inside. Also some special fireworks called “jiware hanabi” and “taki hanabi” will be set off. To get there take the JR Tokaido line or Meitetsu line to “Gifu”, then get on a bus bound for Nagarabashi and get off at “Ukaiya”, however chances are the buses will be packed if this is the case it is possible to follow the crowds and walk from the station to the festival site. If it rains the festival might be postponed until the following day from 7:30p.m.

The original festival takes place in April:

http://kikuko.web.infoseek.co.jp/english/tejikara-no-himatsuri.html

Whoa.

Just like the short short life of a cicada.

I have so many things to see, not enough time to write.

I saw a cicada about to cast off its skin.
I think there are more cicadas than people in Japan, but i'd never ever seen anything like this before. It will be crying it's head off for the next 7 days, only to die at the end of it. Hmm. hmmmmm.

More than 2 Years ago........

About two years ago, with my best friend Fran, I went to an island called 'Itsukushima', situated off the coast of Hiroshima. It is commonly known as Miya-jima. The island is very, I mean very famous for it's red rhine 'Itsukushima-jinja', with it's gate in the water(see the photo above), and is a UNESCO world heritage site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsukushima





It is magnificent. The whole island is, in a way, a giant shrine. And the monkeys and deer roam freely. The deer, being the messengers of god in the Shinto religion, are considered sacred. Which I am afraid I have to say something about. I'd visited this shrine 2-3times. And on both occasions, I got attacked...... Grrrrrrrr ... The gods gang up on people and take the food away. And they smell too. hee hee.

One of the best things in my life happened here. As we walked through the shrine, we accidentally encountered a shintoist Wedding. There is nothing sentimental about the formal ceremony, I could see the groom was sweating out of stress. And all of a sudden a masked dancer appeared from nowhere, and started dancing. That's when I first encountered this long tradition (longer than Noh) BUGAKU. Bugaku is something that originates in Asia, not particularly in Japan. But strangely the tradition has only carried on in Japan, nowhere else.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gagaku

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This dance is called Bugaku, and the character portrayed is Ryo-ou.

Well....... just found everything in my room so I thought I'd put it up here. Neat, no?

Ew. Yum.mais toujours Ewwww

Look at its cuuute disgusting eyes.
1.Rip its head off.
2.peel its skin off.
3.Enjoy!!!!

That was the instruction I got when someone brought this 'shako'('Squilla or Mantis shrimp in English, apparently. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp) at lunch time. Errrr, ok. oooookkkk. Even I was a littttle bit scared. Of course it tasted good. Just like shrimp.

Tu-tum.

Oh No.

I went to see 'Takigi-Noh' today. Takigi-noh is a type of NOh theatre. It basically means it takes place outside. 'Takigi' means bonfire.

Buuut..... I don't think many people know what Noh theatre is. One reason being many people who go there end up falling asleep. It is verrrrry difficult. SO here's what it is:

Q: Defined simply, WHAT IS NOH drama???
Noh and Kyogen represent a wellspring for traditional Japanese performing arts and other arts and, as such, they have had tremendous influence on Kabuki and other arts that developed later. Perfected in Japan's Muromachi period (1333-1568), Noh has survived intact the subsequent years of war and social upheaval and is still performed today.
Noh created a new theatrical world by fusing three genres: narrative songs called Utai, a form of dance called shimai , and musical accompaniment called hayashi. With a story containing strong elements of the fantastic, a richly symbolic performance pared to the barest essentials, a stage stripped to the most basic elements, Noh attains the highest levels of artistic perfection. Added to this, the beauty of the Noh masks(!!!!!!!!! naturally ) and costumes transfixes the eye.

OK i don't know if it was defined simply. Hee hee.
http://www.noh-kyogen.com/english/index.html
have a look.
The play I saw was called 'Kurozuka'about an old nanny whose real identity is a demon who kills people in order to save the princess.

The mask used for the woman is called Shakumi, and the one used when the woman turns into a demon is the famous 'hannya' The actual masks that were used last night are hundreds of years old, kept in a shrine in Toyohashi.
Woohooo now i'm satisfied. Masks masks yay yay.

Here's what I wore to the theatre..... A yukata. It is a very informal version of Kimono. Wanna wear it? CHeck this out.... Cos I have no idea how to wear it.

http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/yukata/yukata/1.html

Payday

whooo hooooooo!!!! How much did I get? How much how much how much?????
................. 87889yen????????? whooo hooooooo!!!!
How much is my rent?? 59000yen! How much social security tax do I have to pay??? 13000 yen!!!! How much do I have to pay for the health insurance??? No idea!!!
Donq......... 87889-59000-13000-xxxx-electricity/water/gas/phone bill........ =0yen

Oopla I forgot to eat. That's when teaching English becomes handy. That's when I become a foreigner. Heeee heee. Gotta live, gotta live!