Nature Ready to Chill

Hunting

Mikoshi festival in Autumn.

Autumn season is a time celebrates of the Mikoshi traditional festival in Japan. Mikoshi of the (portable shrine) one of the god live in village. Gumizaki is a fishing village in Fukui prefecture is located near the Japan Sea, about 200km north from Osaka.

Every year in autumn, Gumizaki fishing villagers celebrates Mikoshi festival which festival has started two hundreds years ago, in Edo period. Inside the village, there are two shrines. One is in the mountain side and other is seaside. The two gods is a loved couple, and only the festival time, they can stay together. Villagers bring the god of the mountain shrine to the seaside shrine, using Mikoshi (portable shrine) at the beginning of the festival, so that the two gods can stay together during festival time.
During the festival time, villagers play traditional music and dances all around the village. There’s strict rule about each dance and other ceremonies; for example women are prohibited to go mountain side and cannot carry Mikoshi. Older people teach young boys and girls how to dance and perform ceremonies. It is good opportunity to maintain communication among many generations and tell traditional system to young generation.

“However it is becoming more and more difficult to maintain this kind of festival, because of the shortage of people. As young people tend to move toward town to get job, the population of this village is less and less year by year. More than 30 people are needed to carry Mikoshi but there’s not so much young people in this village. They invite non-villagers to the festival to carry Mikoshi. One of a neighbor village decided not to carry Mikoshi anymore because of shortage of people said one of old fisherman”.
They bring the Mikoshi to the spectators while bouncing it up and down as everybody chants, "wa shai! wa shai! wa shai!
The children are carrying the small mikoshi too.

Typhoon Melor hits Japan

A woman officer of Japan Railway stands entrance of station during suspend some train service in Fukui, about 500 kilometres from Tokyo, Japan October 8, 2009. A powerful Typhoon waves hit into Japan on Thursday 8, October 2009, halting trains service and some public transport, closing school for manage to disaster warnings. The train service delayed or cancelled on many line and some major lines was suspend but media report there were no serious damage.

The Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal see of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. It is referred to in North Korea as the Korea East Sea and in South Korea as the East Sea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure.

The areas in the north and the southeast are rich fishing ground and sea has three major basins. The Yamato Basin in the southeast, the Japan Basin in the north and the Tsushima Basin (Ulleung Basin) in the southwest. The Japan Basin has the deepest areas of the, while the Tsushima Basin has the shallowest.
Reference – wikipedia.com

Light of the Waste.

Japanese people mark Eco- candle festival and light over 25,000 candles at Ikeda city in Fukui about 320 kilometres from Tokyo, September 26, 2009.

Eco-candle festival started four years ago to show their environmental friendly lifestyle and take attraction for Ikeda city. They are collecting used cooking oil and some other wasting item during the previous year to make candles. All of people collecting their uded cooking oil and make candles. About 3,000 people live in Ikeda and most of are farmers. Ikeda city is one of the aged society in Japan; nearly half of population is over 65 years old. However, those people using ecological method for agriculture. More and more people, these days, are interested in ecology life style and start so many ecological activities. Ikeda city is one of a leading city of ecological and natural way.

Art of the Tradition

Padlock shut the Loving-kindness.