Travel Through a Viewfinder

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

JAPAN | Sunday, 29 August 2010 | Views [207]

A young boy sits inside a Danjiri cart during an autumn festival in the mountains behind Kobe. The carts, elaborately decorated and full of children, are pulled throught the streets by local men and are believed to carry the spirits of gods.

In the lead up to New Year (お正月 - Oshōgatsu), homes, businesses and public areas are decrated with 'shimenawa' - special New Year decorations traditionally made in different combinations of pine needles, rice husks, mikans (a type of fruit) and mochi (ground rice) cakes. On the 15th of January, communities small hold Dondoyaki festivals in which the decorations are ritually burnt in hope a year free of death, illness and adversity.

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In the New Year season, performers visit households to enact the traditional Lion's Dance, dispelling evil and bestowing blessings for the coming year. Here, the performer dons a shishi-gashira (lion's head), dancing with in combat with a second masked person to the tune of enka (traditional Japanese music)

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Travel Through a Viewfinder

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

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