by joostay
The Kyoto shrine that’s attractive in more ways than one
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: design, ikimasho, japan, Kyoto, photography, shinto, shrine, temple, travel blogging, travel writer
by joostay
Spinning around in suburban west Tokyo
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, buddhism, design, japan, matsuri, photo essay, photography, shinto, shrine, temple, tokyo, travel, travel writer
by joostay
Stumbling across a traditional rite of passage for young children way out in the ‘burbs
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: architecture, blog, culture, design, fashion, festival, Hachioji, japan, japanese, photography, shinto, tokyo, travel
by joostay
Ofudamaki was established in 1688 when mothers gave their clothes to male Shinto dancers in the hope of bringing them protection from cholera. My latest piece for DAZED is now online, talking about Ofudamaki, an obscure festival held once a year in a nondescript area 50 km from Tokyo. Check it out here.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, cross dressing, culture, design, female, festival, gender roles, japan, japanese, male, matsuri, ofudamaki, photography, religion, shinto, tokyo, travel, urban
by joostay
YUSHIMA / 湯島 Last Sunday I made my way out to Yushima in east Tokyo – a station one stop from Nezu on the Chiyoda line, not far from Ueno Park. Yushima Tenjin (or Yushima Tenmangu) is Tokyo’s most famous shrine of scholars, and is therefore visited by students all over the city who come to pray for good exam results. Inside the grounds you can see hundreds of ema – small wooden plaques – written by students hoping for entry to the university of their […]
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, design, festival, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, matsuri, photo essay, photography, shinto, summer, Tenjin, tokyo, travel, ueno, video, Yushima
by joostay
Purification of the sea. Getting wet at the annual Hamaorisai Sea Festival in Chigasaki. Once a year in July thousands of people gather at sunrise at the fishing port of Chigasaki to join the Hamaorisai Matsuri – one of Japan’s most vivid spectacles. Dating back to back the ninth year of Tempo (1839), this annual festival is believed to have started when the sacred palanquin of Samukawa Shrine was carried away and lost in the Banyu River on the way back from the Kokuhu Festival. The palanquin later reappeared […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, beach, buddhism, chigasaki, festival, Hamaorisai, japan, kanagawa, matsurio, mikoshi, sea, shinto, shrines, tokyo, travel
IKIMASHO!