Archive for the category Traditional

Yabusame

Por kirai el 12 de February de 2010 en Traditional

Yabusame is considered as one of the most divine martial arts practiced in Japan. The Japanese government DOESN’T consider it a sport but a traditional ritual that consists of shooting with a bow to different targets while riding a horse.
Yabusame is practiced in a 255 meter long track where there are three targets that you [...]

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Setsubun

Por kirai el 03 de February de 2010 en Traditional

Yesterday, February 3rd, was the setsubun day here in Japan; which supposedly marks the end of the winter season (a little bit early) and the beginning of spring. According to tradition, in setsubun day you have to scare demons away and eliminate everything bad that happened the previous year; to achieve this you have to [...]

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Naked men festival

Por kirai el 16 de November de 2009 en Traditional

Antonio sent me a while ago these pics of a traditional festival that is celebrated every year in Saidaiji. In the festival men go out on the streets dressed in some sort of gigantic thong, with their butts hanging out and all. I don’t know why, but this festival somehow reminds me of the Festival [...]

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Geisha make-up

Por kirai el 09 de November de 2009 en Traditional

On this occasion, instead of Sailor Moon make-up, I came across this cool video showing the whole process that a Geisha goes through when putting on make-up. Geishas and maikos have been putting on make-up the same way for over four hundred years. However not only geishas take make-up so seriously; the make-up culture is [...]

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130+ year old Japanese animated stereograms

Por kirai el 02 de November de 2009 en Traditional

I find this collection of “3D” photos amazing (Stereoscopies were made by T-emani between 1859 and 1929). In them you can appreciate everyday lifestyle in Japan during the Meiji Era.

The 2 original pictures.

Animated version with a certain 3D sensation…

Glasses version.

The great Buddha in Kamakura has barely changed.

Animated version by Pinktentacle.

Animated version by Pinktentacle.

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Showering samurai style

Por kirai el 19 de September de 2009 en Traditional

In the following video, an actor (who ironically turns out to be Kusanagi) showers/takes a bath in some kind of goemon-buro, the same way as it was supposedly done two hundred years ago. He cleans his teeth with his finger using salt.

Vídeo by Japanprobe

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Yukatas in Edogawa

Por kirai el 10 de September de 2009 en Traditional

The other day in the Hanabi in Edogawa I had the chance to take quite a few pictures of people wearing yukatas. This light traditional garment can be usually seen in summer, usually in traditional festivals (Matsuri). Apart from being used in summer matsuris, yukatas are also usually worn when going out of the [...]

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Tsukubai in Ryoan-ji

Por kirai el 02 de September de 2009 en Traditional

Last month I had the opportunity to revisit the Ryoan-ji temple, widely known for its dry garden. What many people don’t know is that in the back part of the temple there is a tsukubai, a stone fountain that can usually be found in Buddhist temples where water is poured from a bamboo cane. It [...]

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Sponsors inside Meiji Jingu temple

Por kirai el 26 de August de 2009 en Advertising, Traditional

When I visited the Meiji Jingu temple for the Hatsumode tradition there were lots of sake bottles at the altar from different famous distilleries that pay to have their bottles placed next to the Gods. By doing this they hope business will go well in the future.
The funny thing is that there were Coke and [...]

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Ryoan-ji - 龍安寺

Por kirai el 20 de August de 2009 en Traditional

Ryoan-ji Zen temple is a temple located in Kyoto renowned for the beauty of its dry garden, which is said to cause tranquility and peacefulness to those that contemplate it.

The garden is composed by 15 different rocks arranged in 3 big groups in a way that all the rocks can only be seen at the [...]

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