Foundation Day-Part 3

After our time on Takeshita Street, we caught up with the parade at Meiji-jingu Shrine.  The Shrine is a Shinto shrine.  Shinto is called Japan's ancient, original religion.  The road leading to the Shrine had wine barrels on one side (a gift from France) and the other side had sake barrels (from different distilleries in Japan).  The miniature temple floats were beautiful.  The floats were carried by many people and preformed a dance routine.  We enjoyed a walk through the gardens, stopped at a pond to admire the fish, dipped our hands into the bubbling Kiyomasa well to bring us good luck.  Enjoy the photos and a couple of short video clips.

Foundation Day-Part 2

We left the parade route and walked to Takeshita Street in Harajuku.  As always, this street is quite lively.  The first photo is the JR Station in Harajuku.  The other photos are shops on the street.  Meredith and Bill are modestly surprised by the name of one of the shops.  :)

Bill didn't forget White Day on March 14

National Foundation Day, February 11-Part 1

February 11th was Foundation Day in Japan.  It a day for Japan to celebrate the formation of the nation and a day for expressing patriotism and love of the nation.  Very similar to our 4th of July celebration.  On this day, we had scheduled to spend the day with Meredith (visiting from Grand Rapids on business for a short stint).  We decided to meet in the Omote-sando area and do some sightseeing.  When we exited the subway station, we walked right into the beginning of a parade.  What a nice surprise!  The day turned out to be full of activity, so I will divide this day into 3 parts.  This first posting will be a portion of the parade.  I have many photos.

Valentine's Day

Just a quick note about Valentine's Day.  In Japan, only the men get gifts of chocolate on this day.  A woman will give a gift of chocolate to a male as a sign of love, friendship, respect, etc.  A man likely will get a gift from a co-worker.  The women get nothing.  But don't fret, we get to celebrate White Day on March 14!  On this day, the men will give a gift to any woman who gave him a gift on Valentine's Day.  The nice part about this, is that the gift has to be more expensive than the one given to him!  I'll let you know how White Day turns out!

Harajuku

This will be the first time that I'm writing about the area called Harajuku. But it will not be the last, since this is quite an interesting area.  There is a street here called Takeshita (pronounced:  Ta kesh a ta) where the local young people hang out.  Sunday is the day that many meet to go on this street.  On this street, you'll find many "costumed" teenagers.  An entire group will be dressed alike.  We have seen groups of girls dressed like "baby dolls".  It is so interesting and vibrant.  The tulip photo was taken on a quiet side street before Takeshita.  We enjoyed stuffed crepes from a street vendor.  The final picture is a "Find Waldo" photo.  Try to find me in this photo!

Setsubun

On February 3, 2012, it was the first day of Spring in the lunar calendar.  In Japan, this calls for a celebration called Setsubun (pronounced: "Set sue bon") also called "the bean-throwing ceremony".  On this day, you chase the demons from your home and you let in good fortune.  Most shrines have a large celebration.  I attended the ceremonies at the Hie Shrine.  There were many spectators watching as a procession of costumed participants strolled up to the stage and entered the temple.  These participants were beautifully decorated and also included Sumo wrestlers (the big guys!).  Soon a very large figure came out of the temple-it was the devil, very ornately dressed with quite a scary mask.  Unfortunately, due to the large crowd, I only got a photo of him from the back.  He was dancing and flailing his arms, while dried beans were thrown at him and people shouting-"Oni wa soto Fuku wa uchi" meaning "Devils out, fortune in!"  Once the devil had been chased away, bags of roasted soy beans and small gifts were thrown out to the audience.  It is consider good luck to catch the beans.  You are suppose to eat the amount of your age in beans.

Now, it is hard for me to write this next part without giggling.  The audience is a mass of adults, standing shoulder to shoulder.  Everyone is trying to catch the beans.  When a bag is thrown, the entire group moves as one trying to catch the bag!  Ok-I'm giggling now!  We moved forwards, backwards, side to side as one!   Along with our movements, came "Oohs and Aahs"  I can only compare this to kids catching candy at a parade...on steroids!  Finally, I caught 2 bags-enough for Bill and myself!  I then had to work my way through the crowd.  I say "Sumimasen" (pronounced-sue me ma sin), "Excuse Me" as I push to the outskirts of the crowd.  While standing at the back, one bag of beans falls at my feet and another hits me in the chest!  Good fortune for Joan-4 bags!

What an interesting day and one that will always make me giggle when I think of it!