Tonight’s the night! The evening before the big parade, known as Yoiyama, is happening in downtown Kyoto tonight when people throng around the massive festival floats, with their musicians and displays. It’s a great communal festivity, marking the highpoint of … Read the rest
Category: Festivals (Page 6 of 26)
The Gion Matsuri: Foreigners’ float
(The “Hakurakuten Yama” float this year will consist of 18 men from all over the world.)
By Shaheed Rupani (from Why Kyoto? Jun Sept 2017, p. 42-43)
Kyoto is known as the old capital of … Read the rest
Bawling babies face off in Japan’s ‘crying sumo’
By Toru YAMANAKA Japan Today article May 15, 2017
More than 100 Japanese babies faced off Sunday in a traditional “crying sumo” ring, an annual ceremony believed to bring infants good health.
For the next two days, Japan will be celebrating the fun festival of Setsubun. Green Shinto has reported on the events in Kyoto on a number of previous occasions: see here, or here, or here. The event … Read the rest
Sadly for a ‘nature religion’ Shinto does not have a proud record in terms of animal rights. There has been no campaigning on the issue, and no notable record of opposing animal cruelty. Quite the opposite in fact, as previous … Read the rest
Kyoto is an extraordinarily busy place. No sooner has the busy shrine-going of New Year finished than the city is immersed in activities for Toka Ebisu (on the tenth day of the year). Ebisu is one of the most popular … Read the rest
UNESCO panel recommends adding 33 Japan festivals to heritage list
A UNESCO preliminary review panel recommended that 33 traditional Japanese festivals be registered on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list, the Japanese Cultural Affairs