Summer photo exhibition: Week of July 11th

Our first photo was sent in by Megumi, from Japan:         
                      

           
Category: Festivals
      
Location: This photo was taken in my hometown
          

Comment:

           

This picture is from a summer festival ("Natsu-Matsuri") in my hometown. There is a shrine in my hometown and annually the summer festival is held.

           

In the morning, people go to the shrine with portable shrines (called omikoshi). In my town there are two omikoshi. One is for adults and the other is for children. They hold the ceremony to move the god to get on the portable shrine.

          

People carry it on their shoulders and walk around through the town.  Many spectators walk along with them. It takes around a half day to go through the town. At every stop, some foods and drinks are served to the people, including spectators. Matsuri is open to everyone!

                 

         

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Our second photo was sent in by Nao, from Tokyo, Japan:
         

          
Category: Culture
     
Location: My home

Comment:      

The Chinese Peony is one of my favorite flowers. It's an elegant, graceful flower. In floral language it means compassion and bashfulness, according to some websites. In Japanese, there is an expression to describe a beautiful woman:

Tateba shakuyaku, suwareba botan, aruku sugata wa yurinohana.

("She stands like a Chinese peony, sits like a peony, and walks like a lily.")

This expresses an elegant woman's style. Ladies, if you are told that, you will be happy, won't you?

         

From June to the beginning of July is the season for this flower. It's so popular in season: flower specialty shops sell a few kinds of colors such as red, pink and white. The supermarket has them in stock as well.

          
If you buy it as a bud before it opens, you can enjoy seeing the peony blooming at home. They show several kinds of faces until they bloom. This is my favorite point. I also recommend you buy it in a supermarket if you want to get it, because it's affordable. The price in the supermarket is half or two thirds less than in the flower shop.

         

About three years have passed since I started to decorate with fresh flowers in my home as much as possible. I began to feel more seasonal than before. Now flowers are essential for my life.

          

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Thanks to Megumi for sharing a glimpse of your hometown, and also to Nao, for teaching us something new about Chinese peonies!
         
        
(Would you like your photo to be featured on the blog, too? Get information about the Summer Photo Exhibition here: Get Your Cameras Ready!!)

Summer Photo Exhibition: Week of July 4th

Today's photo was sent in by Joji, from Tokyo, Japan:
    
              

      
      
Category: Culture
     

Comment:
      
"This is a special festival called Sen-nichi Mairi, which is translated to One-thousand-days Worship. When you worship at a shrine during this festival, you are blessed with as many benefits as that of one-thousand-days of worship.
    
"This picture is taken at Atago Shrine on top of Mt. Atago, in Tokyo where ground cherries are sold to worshipers. So this festival is also called Hooziki-ichi, Ground Cherry Market.  The stairs to the shrine are long and steep. These stairs are compared to the corporate ladder. This shrine is said to bring in the blessing of promotion. If you want to get promoted, it is worth visiting the shrine."

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Thanks, Joji, for sharing your photo with us!
         

(Information about sending photos for the Summer Photo Exhibition can be found here: Get Your Cameras Ready!!)