Ohsugi Shrine In Kanuma City

Itaga no Amba (板荷のアンバ様) is an annual festival that have been taking place at Itaga district in Kanuma city over 150 years.

Mikoshi procession led by Tengu (天狗) and small lion (獅子)  starts off at Ohsugi Shrine (大杉神社) and visits houses one by one to announce the spring and purify evil spirits.

Since the Mikoshi procession covers quite vast area (= Itaga district is so rural countryside), you can easily miss the procession. Sure, I did miss it. Well, to be honest, I did not even have a chance of getting a glimpse of it and that's why I am posting the pond I found at Ohsugi shrine...

A Happy New Year

I wish you a wonderful Happy New Year!

It was warm to be around fire with lots of smokes and be surrounded by crowds... Well, lots of amateur photographers, I would say...

I'm a New Convert

To the Church of Micro 4/3 - Olympus sect!

Olympus OM-D EM-5 with Panny LUMIX G VARIO 7-14mm/F4

I have used my beloved Nikon D200 for over 3 years and we had a really good time together. I always made offerings to the Church of Nikon F-mount but lately I've been brainwashed by compact system missionaries - Micro four thirds.

Nikon D200 with Sigma 15mm EX DG Fisheye

There are pros and cons of both DSLR and μ4/3 systems. 
What I really appreciate in the μ4/3 system is relatively cheaper offerings of the lenses. However, the quality of the lenses is outstanding. Sure, it's very light weight and no mirror shock occurs while shooting.

Now I have "faith" in Olympus OM-D EM-5! This classic film camera-looking silver gadget comes with build-in image stabilization, weather-sealed body, tilting monitor, and 12 art filters.

Note that my first steps into the mirrorless denomination were made with Sigma DP1s two-odd years ago. Now my conversion has been completed!

My beloved wife understands and supports my new religious choice fully. I am a very lucky man. Thank you Mrs T for making this conversion possible! Now you are a Nikon believer (please take good care of the D200), but I am confident that soon you will also see the light, even if yours might turn out to be a Panasonic sect.

F-Mount God bless her.

Mrs T at Hoshinomiya Shrine

This is a Macro Monday entry.

Underground Temple

We joined a tour organized by Edogawa River Office (江戸川河川事務所) whose mission is to prevent disastrous flooding  in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan area.

The northeastern part of Tokyo cosmopolis is notorious for inundation caused by several rivers running very slowly in a relatively flat area with almost no gradient. It used to be a swamp in the past.
The idea of preventing from inundation is, during a typhoon attack or in rainy season, to drain the overwhelming water from several rivers by pooling the excess amount of water in the underground surge tank (首都圏外郭放水路) temporarily and spit it out to the bigger river (Edo river).


Here is the official video in Japanese.

The big surge tank is called "Underground temple" in its outlook. When we were in the tank, there was a movie filming going on.

The beauty of the tour is it's free of charge and you get a postcard when departing.

Interested in the tour?

Then, click [ENGLISH: Summary of the tour].


Address:
720 kamikanasaki, Kasukabe, Saitama, 322-0111

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Have a wonderful weekend.

Chuzenji Lake

Photographed at Chuzenji Lake in Nikko city.

This is the Weekend in Black and White entry.

Tennosai in Utsunomiya

It's summer time, which is when festivals happen in many places all over Japan.

We went to Tennosai festival (天王祭) last night. Only to the best highlight part at night, though. It was cloudy and extremely humid. We thought it's a matter of time before it would start raining... Because Ms. T was with me (it ALWAYS rains when she's out and about), but hey, it didn't!

Please expect that she will upload video in the near future.

Every year at Tennosai festival, the districts that have their own mikoshi (portable shrine) compete who can climb up the backbreaking 96 steps of Futaarayama shrine with the mikoshi the fastest! The winning time this year was 18 seconds.

These two are the mikoshi photos from Bamba district. It has a big drum on it and two young drummers kept beating while being carried to the top of the shrine. Over 70 guys contributed to the pushing of the biggest mikoshi to the finish line.

Actually, Bamba has another tiny mikoshi (No drum on it) carried by little boys and girls.

Cherry Trees And Giraffes

Today was probably the last chance for us to photograph cherry blossoms in our town, Utsunomiya. So we headed to the Oya district and Utsunomiya zoo (宇都宮動物園). Utsunomiya zoo is one of my favorite places to photograph cherry trees. It's plain gorgeous to see blossoms from the ferris wheel!

After approximately 5 minutes of the ferris wheel trip, I spent quite a long time taking photos of giraffes.

Tohaimon Gate

I realized that I've been posting entries related to Buddhist ceremonies. Now it's time to post something about Shinto.

By Chuzenji lake (中禅寺湖) in Nikko city, there is Futaarasan Chugushi shrine (二荒山中宮祠).

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Futaarasan Chugushi is a beautiful shrine enshrining three deities, Okuninushi (大国主)/Onamuchi (大己貴命), Tagorihime (田心姫命), and Ajisukutakahikone (味耜高彦根命). It also acts as a entrance gate for the trail to climb Mt. Nantai. The entrance is called Tohaimon Gate (登拝門).

We once challenged Mt. Naitai (男体山) and climbed it in summer. At NIGHT. We posted the entry here to share with you the experience we had during the challenge! We are supposed to try this summer once again!