On 13th November 2005, British Nick, Junko,
Andy and I went to Heian-jingu shrine to witness the shichi-go-san (7-5-3) festival. It
was quite a warm day, the sun shining through the trees creating patterns on
the shrine walls and garden, and the sky was a perfect blue. We couldn't
believe it was November! The festival is the most special and important in a
Japanese child's life. When they become 3, 5, and 7 years old they are dressed
in decorative kimono and gowns and taken to a shrine so they can be blessed by
the priests. The family escort them, all dressed in their best (most mothers
also wear kimonos) and pray for the health, happiness and success of the
child/children. It looked like a lawn of butterflies. There were definitely
over 100 children there, all wearing different coloured kimonos, bags,
hair ornaments and shoes. I swear that every shade of every colour was
represented. Some children even had little decorative winter kimono coats over
the actual kimono - in fluffy material or white suede with bobbles and tassels
or motifs. The boys were just as cute with traditional designs indicating the
Samurai on the back of their gowns. The boys represented the darker hues and
tones - blues, greys, greens and mauve to dark purple. Nick and I wandered
among them and asked permission of a great many parents to photograph their
infants. They all agreed as they are so very proud and want their children to
have attention and be told how cute and beautiful they look. I think what I
found so amazing was the way the 7 year olds held themselves. It was almost
as though the parents had told them how to walk and behave, and they seemed
very demure yet a little haughty at the same time. The very small children were
off in their own little worlds, kicking off their shoes, sitting on the ground,
running away from their parents and shrieking with delight at their little
game. Many were fascinated by the gravel at the shrine, and stooped to pick up handfuls of it from the
ground with ever-despairing mums trying to prevent them, yet as soon as their
backs were turned the kids were at it again.
We stayed for a very long time, observing the way all the families gather in a line and wait their turn to receive the blessing and the candy for the children. I took pictures of the scenery around me as well as the kids as it was such a gorgeous day. We then walked around the spacious garden at a leisurely pace, admiring the greenery, the lakes and the Chinese-inspired bridge. Two girls (I\'m guessing sisters who were 7 and 5 years old) were walking around with their father, who was organizing classy shots of them in the nearly-deserted garden. I managed to get a shot through leaves of one of them standing by the lake. I deliberately focused on the leaves, so the girl is a blurry image of red kimono and black hair in the background, which almost makes it look like a sneaky shot taken through the rain. I like this picture as she looks alone in a sea of green.
Leaving the shrine, we walked about 30 minutes to central Kyoto. It' s not really a pretty walk as it's along the main road, but it can still yield photo opportunities and some great people shots! There are also trees en route to try to avoid the complete urbanisation of the area. As we walked we saw a great number of police officers, and then we saw cordoned off areas of some streets. Junko stopped to ask for directions of a younger looking officer, and he told us it was due to the arrival of President Bush in Kyoto that they were preparing a high level of security. Once we were in central Kyoto we went to a restaurant and had a hearty meal as we were ravenous after walking around for the better half of the day.
