Nara - Day 2 Part 1 - Kasuga Wakamiya Onmatsuri
I'm about halfway through about 300+ photos taken today. Too tired... I'm going to post these and go to bed.
Anyway, today was a crappy weather day. Very very cloudy and occasionally raining...which made walking around pretty much a moot point especially if photography is the main focus and it made any sort of photography quite difficult... Lucky for me, today was day 2 of a 3 day festival at a major shrine in Nara called Kasuga Taishi. This festival has been going on since the 8th century. 8th!! This is nothing like a Macy's Day Parade. This has been going on none stop every single year for well over 1000 years. The history is staggering.
Of course, due to the rich history, it is also steeped in lots and lots and lots of tradition and ceremony. Some original and some added on over the years. But unfortunately for me, I have no clue what this festival is for... (-_-) Seriously... I assume it'sto honor the gods and so on. There were offerings of fish and such so it may have something to do with the harvest for the year. I'll have to look it up.
The main thing is, today was a traditional parade. Various participants in traditional clothing from various eras (basically when their part was added on to the original procession) walk from one shrine (near the JR station a good 1.5km away from Kasuga Taishi) to Kasuga Taishi itself. They place a barrier around the main drag in the park for us spectators and I parked myself under a nice tree so I won't get TOO wet and so I can take care of the camera. I couldn't use a flash because it will spook the horses either so...this was pretty damn challenging... Ultimately think of these as mediocre photos of a parade but the marchers are wearing traditional Japanese outfits :)
As usual, all photos are linked to bigger ones and other than the first, the rest are behind the link! I will put some explanations now and again if I know something.
I'll first start off with a cute litte girl all done up in tradional palace maiden (equivalent of a lady in waiting) style.
Lots of horses. I think I heard the announcer say something like over 40.
Here are other kids all dressed up like little lords and ladies. The kids looked a bit tired. The parents quite nervous but proud. I guess its' the same no matter what country you're in.
Of course there were a few very special little girls who were chosen to be shrine maidens. They get special treatment and are carried by other guys. We'll see these girls again later in the actual precession (probably posted tomorrow). This was taken before the parade as they walked towards the starting line.
These are the various actual shrine maidens (miko).
And also young women playing the roles of palace maidens.
Of course we also have other older men playing noblemen.
(This guy eventually "raced" his horse down the line as part of the ceremony)
And some young boys also got to wear traditional palace wear.
And some obviously very traditional and ceremonial costumes. Yes. This man is carrying an entire scene on his head...and wearing a very high and ceremonial wooden sandles called "geta".
Closeup of the sandles.
Of course, not everyone was in traditional garb. We also had volunteers selling basically programs and such as well (and she was cute...so I bought one...)
And finally, a shot of the people along the line. You can't see it here but the sheer number of Nikon and Canon DSLR's along with all the various lenses were staggering. It was like a convention. And you can tell people were checking each other's gear as they passed too. ...and yes, my camera is not as good as some of theirs...not even close...but my lenses were better than most!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Sure you may have the latest Canon or Nikon, but if you're shooting with just the kit lens, what a waste!! ...and with that I am done with the peeing contest. Especially since its' not anything worth winning (or losing for that matter) (^_^)
And that's it! 17 photos for tonight. More to come tomorrow (I hope...)
Anyway, today was a crappy weather day. Very very cloudy and occasionally raining...which made walking around pretty much a moot point especially if photography is the main focus and it made any sort of photography quite difficult... Lucky for me, today was day 2 of a 3 day festival at a major shrine in Nara called Kasuga Taishi. This festival has been going on since the 8th century. 8th!! This is nothing like a Macy's Day Parade. This has been going on none stop every single year for well over 1000 years. The history is staggering.
Of course, due to the rich history, it is also steeped in lots and lots and lots of tradition and ceremony. Some original and some added on over the years. But unfortunately for me, I have no clue what this festival is for... (-_-) Seriously... I assume it'sto honor the gods and so on. There were offerings of fish and such so it may have something to do with the harvest for the year. I'll have to look it up.
The main thing is, today was a traditional parade. Various participants in traditional clothing from various eras (basically when their part was added on to the original procession) walk from one shrine (near the JR station a good 1.5km away from Kasuga Taishi) to Kasuga Taishi itself. They place a barrier around the main drag in the park for us spectators and I parked myself under a nice tree so I won't get TOO wet and so I can take care of the camera. I couldn't use a flash because it will spook the horses either so...this was pretty damn challenging... Ultimately think of these as mediocre photos of a parade but the marchers are wearing traditional Japanese outfits :)
As usual, all photos are linked to bigger ones and other than the first, the rest are behind the link! I will put some explanations now and again if I know something.
I'll first start off with a cute litte girl all done up in tradional palace maiden (equivalent of a lady in waiting) style.
Lots of horses. I think I heard the announcer say something like over 40.
Here are other kids all dressed up like little lords and ladies. The kids looked a bit tired. The parents quite nervous but proud. I guess its' the same no matter what country you're in.
Of course there were a few very special little girls who were chosen to be shrine maidens. They get special treatment and are carried by other guys. We'll see these girls again later in the actual precession (probably posted tomorrow). This was taken before the parade as they walked towards the starting line.
These are the various actual shrine maidens (miko).
And also young women playing the roles of palace maidens.
Of course we also have other older men playing noblemen.
(This guy eventually "raced" his horse down the line as part of the ceremony)
And some young boys also got to wear traditional palace wear.
And some obviously very traditional and ceremonial costumes. Yes. This man is carrying an entire scene on his head...and wearing a very high and ceremonial wooden sandles called "geta".
Closeup of the sandles.
Of course, not everyone was in traditional garb. We also had volunteers selling basically programs and such as well (and she was cute...so I bought one...)
And finally, a shot of the people along the line. You can't see it here but the sheer number of Nikon and Canon DSLR's along with all the various lenses were staggering. It was like a convention. And you can tell people were checking each other's gear as they passed too. ...and yes, my camera is not as good as some of theirs...not even close...but my lenses were better than most!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Sure you may have the latest Canon or Nikon, but if you're shooting with just the kit lens, what a waste!! ...and with that I am done with the peeing contest. Especially since its' not anything worth winning (or losing for that matter) (^_^)
And that's it! 17 photos for tonight. More to come tomorrow (I hope...)