JAPAN | Friday, 8 Aug 2014 | Views [512]
The city of Sendai celebrates a love story each August. And everyone loves a good love story!
There seem to be various legends behind it but the one we were told by the Sendai tourist office was this:
According to Chinese legend, two stars, Altair ... Read more >
Tags: japanese festival, sendai tanabata
JAPAN | Thursday, 7 Aug 2014 | Views [474]
The Chinese-inspired Aomori Nebuta festival, in the North of Honshu, is an incredible spectacle. Several parades take place, each made up of giant floats; bands of drummers, flautists and hand cymbalists; and groups of dancers accompanied by "jokers" ... Read more >
Tags: aomori nebuta, japanese festival
JAPAN | Friday, 1 Aug 2014 | Views [474]
Each year for the past 400 years, the villagers of Gujo-Hachiman have taken to the streets for a dancing festival called O-Bon. It originated from Shinto-Buddhist religious beliefs that ancestors' spirits return from the dead for a few days around the ... Read more >
Tags: folk festival, gujo, japanese festival
JAPAN | Tuesday, 29 Jul 2014 | Views [736] | Comments [1]
Mid July to end of August is one of Japan's main festival seasons. In Matsumoto, we went to a big Taito drumming festival. Bands from around the country came to perform against the backdrop of the magnificent sixteenth century black and white wooden ... Read more >
Tags: drumming, japanese festival, matsumoto, taito
