Tokyo gets oppressively hot in the summer. You take a step out from your air-conditioned apartment and your dripping with sweat in no time. Whilst carrying my camera gear I’m hauling about 12kg, so I’m soaked all day.
At some of the festivals in summer where you see groups of people carrying mikoshi (portable shrines) through the streets, you can’t help feel sorry for them. The mikoshi weigh upwards of 100kg, some are almost half a tonne I hear. My bag is a feather in comparison.
At the Fukagawa Hachimangu festival in the Monzen Nakacho area of Tokyo’s koto ward, they have a novel way of keeping the mikoshi carriers cool. This is a mizukake (water pouring) festival where mikoshi carriers have water thrown over them by onlookers as they carry their load through the streets. It’s brilliant to shoot, I was a bit worried about all the water getting thrown about when I had my gear out, but despite being in amongst it I didn’t get a drop on me. I did see one guy with a DSLR get absolutely soaked…ouch. Hope he had insurance.
3 Comments
Damn! missed this one, nice shots. I love matsuri they are so much fun to shoot. This one especially looks like the kind of thing I enjoy. Next year is Ombashira in Suwa in Nagano where they ride a huge tree trunk down a hill. It is lethal fun and happens once every 8 years. I went last time but the police wouldn`t let you within a kilometre of the main event. Hopefully this time I`ll be able to wangle so press access to get closer to the danger.
Have a good time in HK.
Damon
The joy of press passes. I never bother getting them for the matsuris, but maybe I should. The one in Nagano next year sounds good. When is it?
Don’t know if you have ever been to any mud festivals (there is a famous one up North), but there is a really good one in Chiba as well in March. I went 2 years, brilliant for pics, starts off quiet, guys carrying their young babies into a muddy field and dabbing mud on their heads, then a jog back to a temple in the forest, start on the sake and they start running back to the muddy field and throw mud at each other….repeat the process several times with lots more booze and a big fire to warm yourself by. It’s a good one, usually only some locals as well.
Yes I think some accredited access will help alot for that particular matsuri. The details are here http://www.onbashira.jp/english/kamisya/index.html
It happens only every 8 years so is worth checking out. But I want access this time, last time was a crock, could see bugger all really. Working on that now.
Enjoy HK.
Damon