Photos

The historic town city of Hiraizumi, Iwate prefecture. This city used to the capital city of the Ozu kingdom, covering around a third of Japan, and rivalled Kyoto in splendour and population. Now it is a quiet town, filled with tourists marvelling at the wonderfully preserved temples and shrines, and sites of historic significance.


On January 20th in Motsu-ji, a Buddhista and Shinto complex, there is the fire festival. It is a fertility festival for the rice harvest, where men carry giant burning sticks through town to the centre of the temple grounds, then there is a ceremony, and a special 'Ennen no Mai' dance (which I was lucky enough to see) for a good harvest.

Fertility symbols such as the one shown in the photo, and the fertility of the fields intertwine in Japanese religion.


Photo has been resized to fit on TrekEarth.


Motsu-ji http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C5%8Dts%C5%AB-ji
Hiraizumi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiraizumi,_Iwate