Most viewed - Kazusa Junisha Matsuri Festival 2009 上総十二社祭り |
Being next to the Pacific Ocean, Chiba has quite a few festivals held on the beach. The Kazusa Junisha Matsuri is one of the larger ones. Sept. 13, 2009 (Sun.) was the main festival day when they went in the water at the beach. 771 views
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One great thing about this hadaka matsuri is that there are women as well. Most hadaka matsuri have only men.357 views
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Women too, while they are careful to prevent any nip slips.348 views
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Kazusa Junisha Matsuri Festival, Ichinomiya, Chiba on Sept. 13, 2009.287 views
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Festival girls posing for me. They love the attention.261 views
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Tossing the mikoshi into the air.249 views
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To the beach and water.204 views
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The men covered their bellies, while the women covered their bellies and chests.190 views
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They give a few cheers before they started running on the beach.173 views
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The portable shrines begin to leave Tamasaki Shrine.169 views
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Kazusa-Ichinomiya Station on the JR Sotobo Line.160 views
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From 7 pm, the mikoshi started returning to Tamasaki Shrine. At 8 pm, the god's spirit in the mikoshi was returned to the shrine.157 views
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PR poster for Kazusa Junisha Matsuri.151 views
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Women standing by to pull the mikoshi.149 views
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A stampede.148 views
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They run on the beach while carrying the mikoshi.144 views
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A portable shrine leaves Tamasaki Shrine.143 views
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The mikoshi arrive on the beach.139 views
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Here they come.137 views
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The girls had their hair airbrushed with colorful designs. I've noticed that women and girls participating in matsuri have become quite fashionable, chic, or hip.132 views
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Girls were originally not allowed to participate in the festival, but now they do even though it is a hadaka (nude) festival. Of course, no one is really naked.131 views
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They are cheering and shouting throughout.129 views
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Tamasaki Shrine is crowded with people as a ceremony still goes on. The Kazusa Junisha Matsuri started in 807. It is designated as Chiba Prefecture's Intangible Cultural Property.124 views
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More women in fashionable clothing to pull a mikoshi.122 views
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Sacred horse120 views
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On the beach. Good spot for surfing as well.120 views
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Love these women running and pulling the mikoshi.119 views
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Women waved fans.119 views
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Sacred dance at the Kaguraden by Sarutahiko.117 views
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This festival separates the amateur photographers from the pros. Amateurs wear long pants and shoes and enter the ocean to take pictures. I was of course wearing shorts and rubber slippers (but barefoot in the water).114 views
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The day starts with a Shinto ceremony at 10 am at Tamasaki Shrine, near Kazusa-Ichinomiya Station on the JR Sotobo Line. 玉前神社113 views
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On Kujukuri Beach, there a stretch of beach called Tsurigasaki Kaigan Beach marked by a torii. This will be the Tokyo 2020 Olympic venue for surfing.113 views
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Tsurigasaki Kaigan is where the horses and portable shrines will start to arrive at 2:30 pm to 3 pm. This is where the crowd is. But the beach is big enough for all of us.113 views
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My YouTube video of the Kazusa Junisha Matsuri in 2009. Watch them in the water and the girls waving fans.113 views
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One of the child horse riders.112 views
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The beginning of the procession consists of a few portable shrines pulled by children.112 views
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Back at Tamasaki Shrine are two other portable shrines which had arrived from Sannomiya Shrine, one of the junisha (12 shrines) in the Kazusa area.111 views
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Child rider leaving Tamasaki Shrine.111 views
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In the water, maybe ankle deep. But the waves made it knee-deep.111 views
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Tamasaki Shrine torii110 views
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More mikoshi arrive.110 views
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The beach is too far to walk, so they provided free shuttle buses to the beach from Kazusa-Ichinomiya Station from 2 pm. It was a 10-15 min. ride to the beach.109 views
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They head for Tsurigasaki Beach, where the torii is.109 views
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The mikoshi start to gather for a ceremony.109 views
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Two portable shrines in front of the Kaguraden stage. Kazusa is the name of the former province in central Chiba Prefecture. Junisha means twelve shrines.108 views
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One child horse rider arrives.107 views
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They prop up the mikoshi before carrying it toward the ceremony place.107 views
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The sacred horse and child riders soon join the procession as they leave Tamasaki Shrine.104 views
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Leaving Tamasaki Shrine. It was impossible to judge where I should be to take good shots. I missed quite a few opportunities. I have to see the festival again to take the shots I wanted to take this time.104 views
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Tsurigasaki Kaigan beach is where they believe the gods arrive. 釣ケ先海岸104 views
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Child horse rider sits on a bunch of soft cushions on the horse.103 views
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Returning to land.103 views
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Sometimes they tossed the mikoshi up.102 views
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I kept shooting their backs. Next time, I'll try to shoot more faces.101 views
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It's amazing that no one tripped and fell.101 views
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A procession departs Tamasaki Shrine at 1 pm, led by Sarutahiko.100 views
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Shrine priest arrive on horseback. He looked very weary. It was a hot day too.100 views
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Back on land.100 views
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They then ran with the portable shrine. They will run while carrying the shrine to the beach several kilometers away.99 views
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Great spectacle, especially with women included. Great idea to allow women in the festival.99 views
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You could go in front of them to shoot their faces, but the water would be deeper.98 views
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Then the mikoshi sped by one after another.98 views
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They tossed the mikoshi into the air a few times.97 views
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They kept waving their fans and cheering in the water.97 views
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The mikoshi start to gather for a ceremony as they all run at full speed.96 views
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Very jovial and noisy.96 views
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The boy looked thrilled to be riding at full speed. Very bumpy though.96 views
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The sacred horse arrive in town.96 views
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From 6 pm, they paraded the mikoshi on the main road near Tamasaki Shrine.96 views
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After the ceremony, they head for the water.95 views
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Like on the beach, they wave fans and cheer.94 views
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Everyone is yelling and cheering.93 views
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The next spectacle was them running through the torii on the beach.93 views
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All the mikoshi headed for the torii.93 views
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Shrine priest arrives.93 views
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Making way for the horses.92 views
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It would take them about an hour to get back to town.90 views
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More horses arrive.90 views
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First were the horses galloping through. Each horse was guided by two men running alongside.83 views
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