Takeda Shingen Festival - Ricoh samurai (employees) line up for the customary commemorative photo

Japanese take more canned, commemorative photos (記念写真) than anyone. Perhaps they take more than all other cultures combined. Who knows?

Everyone tends to look very solemn in these kinen shashin, and the pictures tend to include so many people that you can’t really see who is in the photo anyway. Rather boring, right?

I suppose one way to liven things up is to have the participants dress as samurai.

Posted on November 4th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: kofu, shinto. Comments Off on Samurai commemorative photograph

Takeda Shingen approaches Takeda Jinja in Kofu, Japan

When taking pictures in Japan, it is helpful to be 6′ 4″. The next best thing is to have a dad who will put you on his shoulders for the same effect. I went with the first option, but the kid in the Oshkosh jacket in this image went with the latter.

I took today’s photo in April of 2010 in Kofu at Takeda Jinja (武田神社).

Posted on October 14th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: kofu, people, shinto, torii. Comments Off on Shingen Ko Matsuri (信玄公祭り)

Tenso Jinja in the Fall

My neighborhood shrine (Tenso Jinja) looked great in autumn. I say autumn, but this was actually December. By December in my neck of the woods the fall foliage is long gone, but in Tokyo one can still enjoy fall colors.

Posted on October 4th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: autumn, nishi-waseda, shinto, Tokyo, 紅葉. Comments Off on More Autumn foliage in Japan

天祖神社

On this bike ride I happened upon another Tenso Jinja (ancestral Sun Goddess shrine). I didn’t realize until then that the one by my apartment in Nishi Waseda wasn’t unique. Are they all over the place in Japan, or are there only the two (Shinjuku and Otsuka)?

Posted on September 22nd, 2011 under Japan. Tags: shinto. Comments Off on Tenso Jinja Otsuka (天祖神社大塚)

Festival at 天祖神社

Although the heat in the summer in Japan can be brutal, the evening festivals can make for an enjoyable end to otherwise miserably hot days. Today’s photo is from one of the many matsuri I attended at Tenso Jinja near our apartment in Tokyo.

Posted on August 29th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: lanterns, matsuri, nishi-waseda, shinto. Comments Off on Summer festival