Kanda Myojin Omikoshi Togyo – Part 2

… continued from Part 1.
The other highlight of the Kanda Myojin Omikoshi or Kanda Matsuri (Kanda Festival) was held on Sunday, May 10, 2009, as about 200 mikoshi (portable shrines) owned by the town were carried through the town of Kanda and Akihabara, Tokyo’s electric town.
 
The streets were closed to traffic as a [...]

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Kanda Myojin Omikoshi Togyo – Part 1

Kanda Myojin Omikoshi Togyo or Kanda Matsuri (Kanda Festival) is one of the three grandest festivals in Tokyo, held at Kanda Myojin Shrine, Chiyoda-ku.  The festival as held on May 7-15, 2009 this year. 

As usual with Japanese festivals, you can find lots food stalls and carnival games.

Taiko (Japanese drum beating) [...]

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Odawara Hojo Godai Matsuri

The Odawara Hojo Godai Matsuri was held at Odawara Castle in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 2-3, 2009.  The highlight of the festival was a colorful parade of Musha Gyoretsu (warriors’ procession).  Odawara is about 1.5 hours by express train from Tokyo (it was a familiar route to me as I take the same train to [...]

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Weddings at Meiji Jingu

Meiji Jingu (Meiji Shrine) is a very popular place for Shinto weddings so if you drop by during any weekend, you will probably be able to witness one.

The formal wedding photographs are also taken around the beautiful shrine grounds.

More wedding portrait photos of the lovely couples dressed in traditional garments.

Finally, a couple [...]

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Nikko Part 3 – Taiyuin Mausoleum

… continued from Nikko Part 2 – Toshogu Shrine.
Taiyuin is a given title for the third successive Shogun Iemitsu Tokugawa.  Emperor Gokoumyou gave that designation to the mausoleum after the Iemitsu’s death. 
The concept of Taiyuin is different from Toshogu because Iemitsu hesitated to imitate the Toshogu Shrine.  The color of Toshogu Shrine is based on [...]

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Nikko Part 2 – Toshogu Shrine

… continued from Nikko Part 1 – Travel and Hotel.
Toshogu is any Shinto shrine in which Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the last shogunate of Japan, is enshrined.  Ieyasu’s son, the second shogun Hidetada, ordered the construction of the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko. 
One of the most popular tourist attractions in Nikko, the shrine’s entrance fee [...]

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Yushima Tenjin Shrine

Tokyo’s most famous shrine of scholars is the Yushima Tenjin (or Yushima Tenmangu) Shrine. This ancient Shinto shrine was founded in 458 AD for the worship of the god Ameno-tajikaraono-mikoto.  Later in 1355, the spirit of the ninth century scholar Sugawara Michizane was also enshrined there.
The present form of the shrine dates from 1478 when [...]

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Kanda Myojin Shrine

The Kanda Myojin Shrine (or the Kanda Shrine for short) was first built about 1,270 years ago at present Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.  It was moved to its present site near Akihabara and has been rebuilt several times due to fire, earthquake, war and restoration.  The Zuishin Gate was rebuilt in 1995 entirely of hinoki cypress [...]

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Yabusame (流鏑馬)

Yabusame (流鏑馬) is a type of Japanese archery performed while riding a horse – hence, it is also known as Horseback Archery.  The biggest Yabusame event is held annually during Reitaisai Festival at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman shrine in Kamakura, Japan (see my earlier blog post about our visit to Kamakura earlier this year).  This particular [...]

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Omikoshi Togyo Autumn Festival

The Omikoshi Togyo Autumn Festival (matsuri) is one of the biggest events in Kichijoji, about 30 minutes by subway from Tokyo. The main event is a parade of portable shrines called mikoshi carried along the streets of the town to the Musashino Hachimangu Shrine.  This year’s festival as held on the weekend of September 13-14, [...]

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