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From my birthday party. Otoosan accused me of only inviting girls-- which wasn't actually true but was a nice bonus anyway. |
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From a "Bugaku" (Heinan-period court dance) performance I attended in October at a Harvest Festival.
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The biggest Daruma I have seen yet. We made a special trip to Hamaotsu just to take this picture for あかいけ先生（Akaike Sensei if your browser can't read that)
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It's kind of hard to see, but there's a little Doraemon toy at the base of this statue, called a Jizo-san (women make sacrifices to the Jizo san after losing a child or having an abortion).
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These ladies are performing court music (in this case the Koto and Shamisen) at a little concert that served as the prelude to a Noh performance.
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I included this picture more because I took it a couple blocks from my school than anything else. Not that these gals are there just hanging out in the street every day-- this was during the Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Eras) in October.
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This is a Kagura performance we attended during our trip to Okayama prefecture in the Japanese countryside (yes, they do still have a countryside, just not too much).
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Some of the girls in our group got to try on Kimonos at a How-To-Wear-A-Kimono school in Himeiji. I just got to take pictures, which was o.k. too.
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These koi (Japanese gold carp) were in a little pond in front of a shop on our way to a cave called Akiyoshidai. The difficulty was in figuring out which was the top of the picture.
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Kyogen is the comedic form of Noh theatre. This performance was in the same schedule with the above Gagaku and the Noh pictures below.
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Mibukyogen is a mimed version of Kyogen. From its inception, Mibukyogen has been performed seperate from Noh in all-day festivals.
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Noh theatre-- one of my special interests. Over 600 years old, Noh is one of the most highly refined and stylized theater forms in the world. I am especially fascinated by the many and various similarities between Noh and ancient Greek theatre.
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The Otorii (or Great Torii Gate) is probably the single most photographed object in Japan. Not wanting to be left out, I was sure to take a few shots while visiting Miyajima with my host family over Fall Break. I'm hoping to return for a Noh festival in April.
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The bibs and money on this statue of a cow have been done in the way Jizo-sans (see above) usually are. There's something interesting about his face, I think.
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This peice of public sculpture in Kyoto is appropriately titled "Zero." That's me sitting on it :-)
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This is a clipping from a newspaper in Okayama, where we went for a weekend. The little white arrow points to me.
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