Long Time No See...

Terribly sorry for being away from the photo-blogging sphere... I hope that there IS still somebody who is curious about visiting my blog:)

I marked December 15th on my calender as Otariya Festival (冬渡祭) that is organized by Futaarayama shrine (二荒山神社) in our town, Utsunomiya.　

Since we've featured this festival in our other blog, Budget Trouble, those who are interested in the background of this event, please take a look at  this article. And the photo of this festival taken last year is shown here.

Daruma Doll On Fire

Photographed at Futaarayama Shrine (二荒山神社) during Otariya (冬渡祭) festival. In my old post, I already described why Daruma dolls are put into the fire.　

    This is a B&W version of Daruma dolls on fire. Click on the photo to enlarge.

This is a Ruby Tuesday entry.

Mikoshi Procession Under Christmas Decoration

Photographed in Utsunomiya downtown on December 15. This festival is called "Otariya (冬渡祭)". Ujiko members of Futaarayama Shrine gathered, carried mikoshi, and marched downtown. During December this street (with a roof) is decorated with Christmas lights and the portable shrine (mikoshi) had a procession under Christmas decorations.

This is an entry for Show Me Japan Vol 1, Issue 5. If you want to see nice photos taken in Japan, don't forget to visit.

This is also a Spiritual Sunday, Our Weekend Memories, Sunday In My City, and Photo Friday entry. This week's challenge is "Gathering".