Most viewed - Ichinomiya 一宮町 |
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. 756 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.353 views
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Women too, while they are careful to prevent any nip slips.343 views
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Kazusa Junisha Matsuri Festival, Ichinomiya, Chiba on Sept. 13, 2009.281 views
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250 views
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Festival girls posing for me. They love the attention.250 views
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242 views
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Tossing the mikoshi into the air.242 views
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232 views
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To the beach and water.199 views
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The men covered their bellies, while the women covered their bellies and chests.187 views
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167 views
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The portable shrines begin to leave Tamasaki Shrine.167 views
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They give a few cheers before they started running on the beach.166 views
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Kazusa-Ichinomiya Station on the JR Sotobo Line.154 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.150 views
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Women standing by to pull the mikoshi.145 views
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PR poster for Kazusa Junisha Matsuri.144 views
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A stampede.143 views
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140 views
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They run on the beach while carrying the mikoshi.139 views
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A portable shrine leaves Tamasaki Shrine.138 views
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Here they come.132 views
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The mikoshi arrive on the beach.131 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.126 views
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They are cheering and shouting throughout.126 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.125 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.121 views
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More women in fashionable clothing to pull a mikoshi.119 views
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119 views
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On the beach. Good spot for surfing as well.117 views
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115 views
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Love these women running and pulling the mikoshi.114 views
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Sacred horse113 views
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Sacred dance at the Kaguraden by Sarutahiko.112 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).111 views
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Women waved fans.111 views
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One of the child horse riders.110 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108 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.108 views
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Child rider leaving Tamasaki Shrine.108 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.108 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.108 views
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107 views
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The beginning of the procession consists of a few portable shrines pulled by children.107 views
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The mikoshi start to gather for a ceremony.107 views
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They prop up the mikoshi before carrying it toward the ceremony place.105 views
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105 views
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In the water, maybe ankle deep. But the waves made it knee-deep.105 views
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105 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.104 views
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104 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.104 views
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Tamasaki Shrine torii103 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.103 views
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More mikoshi arrive.103 views
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The sacred horse and child riders soon join the procession as they leave Tamasaki Shrine.102 views
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They head for Tsurigasaki Beach, where the torii is.102 views
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Tsurigasaki Kaigan beach is where they believe the gods arrive. 釣ケ先海岸101 views
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101 views
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Child horse rider sits on a bunch of soft cushions on the horse.100 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.100 views
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100 views
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One child horse rider arrives.99 views
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Shrine priest arrive on horseback. He looked very weary. It was a hot day too.99 views
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98 views
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Returning to land.98 views
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It's amazing that no one tripped and fell.97 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.96 views
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96 views
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I kept shooting their backs. Next time, I'll try to shoot more faces.96 views
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They kept waving their fans and cheering in the water.96 views
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96 views
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Sometimes they tossed the mikoshi up.96 views
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A procession departs Tamasaki Shrine at 1 pm, led by Sarutahiko.95 views
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You could go in front of them to shoot their faces, but the water would be deeper.95 views
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They tossed the mikoshi into the air a few times.94 views
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Great spectacle, especially with women included. Great idea to allow women in the festival.94 views
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The sacred horse arrive in town.94 views
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93 views
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93 views
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The boy looked thrilled to be riding at full speed. Very bumpy though.93 views
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Then the mikoshi sped by one after another.93 views
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The mikoshi start to gather for a ceremony as they all run at full speed.92 views
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After the ceremony, they head for the water.92 views
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Back on land.92 views
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91 views
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91 views
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From 6 pm, they paraded the mikoshi on the main road near Tamasaki Shrine.91 views
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Very jovial and noisy.90 views
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Like on the beach, they wave fans and cheer.90 views
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The next spectacle was them running through the torii on the beach.89 views
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Making way for the horses.89 views
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All the mikoshi headed for the torii.88 views
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Shrine priest arrives.88 views
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More horses arrive.87 views
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It would take them about an hour to get back to town.86 views
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Everyone is yelling and cheering.85 views
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First were the horses galloping through. Each horse was guided by two men running alongside.81 views
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