Last additions - Kazusa Junisha Matsuri Festival 2009 上総十二社祭り |
My YouTube video of the Kazusa Junisha Matsuri in 2009. Watch them in the water and the girls waving fans.Jun 06, 2010
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Kazusa-Ichinomiya Station on the JR Sotobo Line.Sep 21, 2009
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PR poster for Kazusa Junisha Matsuri.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Women waved fans.Sep 21, 2009
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Sometimes they tossed the mikoshi up.Sep 21, 2009
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Like on the beach, they wave fans and cheer.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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From 6 pm, they paraded the mikoshi on the main road near Tamasaki Shrine.Sep 21, 2009
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Shrine priest arrives.Sep 21, 2009
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More horses arrive.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Making way for the horses.Sep 21, 2009
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The sacred horse arrive in town.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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It would take them about an hour to get back to town.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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It's amazing that no one tripped and fell.Sep 21, 2009
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More women in fashionable clothing to pull a mikoshi.Sep 21, 2009
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They are cheering and shouting throughout.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Then the mikoshi sped by one after another.Sep 21, 2009
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Love these women running and pulling the mikoshi.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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First were the horses galloping through. Each horse was guided by two men running alongside.Sep 21, 2009
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The boy looked thrilled to be riding at full speed. Very bumpy though.Sep 21, 2009
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All the mikoshi headed for the torii.Sep 21, 2009
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The next spectacle was them running through the torii on the beach.Sep 21, 2009
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The men covered their bellies, while the women covered their bellies and chests.Sep 21, 2009
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Returning to land.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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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).Sep 21, 2009
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Great spectacle, especially with women included. Great idea to allow women in the festival.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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They kept waving their fans and cheering in the water.Sep 21, 2009
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You could go in front of them to shoot their faces, but the water would be deeper.Sep 21, 2009
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I kept shooting their backs. Next time, I'll try to shoot more faces.Sep 21, 2009
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Tossing the mikoshi into the air.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Kazusa Junisha Matsuri Festival, Ichinomiya, Chiba on Sept. 13, 2009.Sep 21, 2009
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Women standing by to pull the mikoshi.Sep 21, 2009
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Festival girls posing for me. They love the attention.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Back on land.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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They tossed the mikoshi into the air a few times.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Everyone is yelling and cheering.Sep 21, 2009
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To the beach and water.Sep 21, 2009
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In the water, maybe ankle deep. But the waves made it knee-deep.Sep 21, 2009
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Very jovial and noisy.Sep 21, 2009
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After the ceremony, they head for the water.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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More mikoshi arrive.Sep 21, 2009
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Shrine priest arrive on horseback. He looked very weary. It was a hot day too.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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The mikoshi start to gather for a ceremony as they all run at full speed.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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They prop up the mikoshi before carrying it toward the ceremony place.Sep 21, 2009
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The mikoshi start to gather for a ceremony.Sep 21, 2009
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They head for Tsurigasaki Beach, where the torii is.Sep 21, 2009
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A stampede.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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They run on the beach while carrying the mikoshi.Sep 21, 2009
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Here they come.Sep 21, 2009
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They give a few cheers before they started running on the beach.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Women too, while they are careful to prevent any nip slips.Sep 21, 2009
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The mikoshi arrive on the beach.Sep 21, 2009
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One great thing about this hadaka matsuri is that there are women as well. Most hadaka matsuri have only men.Sep 21, 2009
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One child horse rider arrives.Sep 21, 2009
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Tsurigasaki Kaigan beach is where they believe the gods arrive. 釣ケ先海岸Sep 21, 2009
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On the beach. Good spot for surfing as well.Sep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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They then ran with the portable shrine. They will run while carrying the shrine to the beach several kilometers away.Sep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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A portable shrine leaves Tamasaki Shrine.Sep 21, 2009
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The portable shrines begin to leave Tamasaki Shrine.Sep 21, 2009
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Child rider leaving Tamasaki Shrine.Sep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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The beginning of the procession consists of a few portable shrines pulled by children.Sep 21, 2009
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The sacred horse and child riders soon join the procession as they leave Tamasaki Shrine.Sep 21, 2009
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A procession departs Tamasaki Shrine at 1 pm, led by Sarutahiko.Sep 21, 2009
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Sep 21, 2009
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Child horse rider sits on a bunch of soft cushions on the horse.Sep 21, 2009
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One of the child horse riders.Sep 21, 2009
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Sacred horseSep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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Sacred dance at the Kaguraden by Sarutahiko.Sep 21, 2009
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Tamasaki Shrine toriiSep 21, 2009
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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Sep 21, 2009
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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.Sep 21, 2009
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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. Sep 21, 2009
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