Tomoe Gozen, a photo from Kyoto, Kinki

Photographer's Note

Tomoe Gozen, living in 12th century, was so described:

Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot. She handled unbroken horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed down perilous descents. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with strong armor, an oversized sword, and a mighty bow; and she performed more deeds of valor than any of his other warriors
Tomoe Gozen provides one of the few examples of a true woman warrior in Japanese history. She was married to Kiso (Minamoto) Yoshinaka who rose against the Taira and in 1184 took Kyoto after winning the Battle of Kurikara.

I saw her riding gracefully a horse on a Jidai Matsuri festival in Kyoto.

The highlight of this festival is a procession of colorful and varied costumes and articles of the nobility as well as commoners, representing various ages during the passage of more than ten centuries.
The costumes and equipment used in this procession are historically accurate, based on thorough research by various experts in their respective fields. For example, the weaving and dyeing of the costumes are carried out in the same manner as were the originals.

delpeoples, Ilducabianco, rodgerg, SWEETFREEDOM, ikeharel, dkmurphys, saxo042, vasilpro, jjcordier, raszid62 has marked this note useful

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delpeoples (44904) 2010-12-21 1:06

Ciao Cara Malgo

I feel as if I am watching this spectacle with you. The image is so life-like with beautiful contrasts and vibrant colours as only the Japanese know how to produce. An excellent photo of the traditions of the Japanese, very interesting. TFS and I wish you a ebautiful day.

Un abbraccio
Lisa

rodgerg (55767) 2010-12-21 3:27

Witaj Malgorzata,

A superb travel! And an excellent dubble portrait very well coloured. The position of the two peoples give depht to the image. Experresion nad attitudes of the two peoples very well collected.
Have a nice day,
Roger

SWEETFREEDOM (18411) 2010-12-21 3:38

Hi Malgorzata,
beautiful simply beautiful,
all the garnments of the elaborated dress is amazing.
regards
Alessandro

ikeharel (37280) 2010-12-21 4:32

Impressive face expression of the parade participants, Malgo.
Very colorful ceramony, fabulous on green trees as decor from BG.
Cheers
Ike

Sergiom (39184) 2010-12-21 6:06

Bonjour Malgorzata

Ces cérémonies en vêtements d'époque donne de magnifiques opportunités de photo. Le cadrage vertical permet de bien englober tous les éléments intéressants dans l'image.

Amicalement

Serge

dkmurphys (36759) 2010-12-21 6:52

Hi Malgo,
A fine picturesque scene. They sure have impressive and spectacular traditions. Fine capture, have a good evening.

Fis2 (73084) 2010-12-21 11:24

Witaj Malgosiu!
Kolejne ciekawe reporterskie...
To poprostu inny swiat ;)
Bardzo ciekawe stroje.
Pozdrawiam
Krzysztof

saxo042 (31794) 2010-12-21 11:32

Hi Małgorzata,
It is very obvious that Japanese traditions and festivals are something very special and very different. Many interesting details and also very fine colours in this picture. You must have experienced a lot of extraordinary events on your recent trip.
Kind regards
Gunnar

vasilpro (40192) 2010-12-21 13:09

Hello Malgo,
Interesting and beautiful traditional scene, very nice POV, excellent light management, lovely vivid colors, very good contrast.
Have a nice evening, Vasilis.

jaywalker (16061) 2010-12-21 14:20

Hi Malgorzata, A great festival photo, wonderfully detailed & excellent colour, stunning traditional costumes & marvellous shallow DOF, kind regards Wilson.

jjcordier (62280) 2010-12-21 22:16

Malgorzata
Ces "costumes traditionnels" sont vraiment somptueux. Tu as réussi par ton cadrage à parfaitement "isoler" ton sujet de la foule. Belle photo!
Amicalement
JJ

jasmis (57596) 2010-12-21 22:19

... ciekaw jestem czy na głuchej prowincji oni takie ciuchy ubierają na co dzień, a nie tylko ku uciesze turystów?

Tak czy owak - egzotyczne. Podoba się.
Pozdrawiam.

mesutilgim (67940) 2010-12-21 23:21

Good morning dear Malgorzata,
This one is absolutely the "top of the top" of your recent series from Japan. A nice colorfull capture with good photographic values and perfect notes. A good TE job !
TFS and have a great day
Best regards
MESUT ILGIM

diomed (13926) 2010-12-22 3:58

Hi Malgo,
superb vertical in this very nice view of traditional japanese dresses. Great contrast, fantastic colors. TFS
Have a nice day
Antonio

raszid62 (18196) 2010-12-22 14:14

Cze¶æ
Japoñska wojowniczka na bia³ym koniu niby Lady Godiva , ale w ubraniu i to imponuj±cym. Ma miecz i ³uk- prawdziwa amazonka. ¦wietnie z³apane.
Pozdrawiam
Józek

AKITA (15125) 2010-12-22 21:38

dear Malgorzata,
a beautiful shot in the parade of Jidai Matsuri,
her ancient costumed figure is well captured(a little OE on white portions),
of course it is not actual but designed and made up figure for sightseeing viewers,
"Yoshitsune and Tomoe" is well known tragedy story in Japanese people indeed,
thank you for your excellent shot,
Akihisa

Graal (88852) 2010-12-23 0:14

Niezwykly widok, stroje, ludzie i sceneria, Malgorzato. Pozazdroscic tego co zobaczylas a my mamy ucieche z Twoich interesujacych reportazy. Fajny kadr, kolory i opis parady. Dobra robota.
Milego dnia i Wesolych Swiat!
Aleksander