During the Japanese period, I discovered a kind of Japanese milestone. It is about their traditional festivals called Matsuri (祭 り / 祭).

These are popular street performances full of color and energy. In general,

Detail of a woman dancing sparrows dance during Aoba Dori Festival.

they are all dedicated to specific traditions. They can celebrate certain religious events, mainly Shinto, or are connected to the evolution of nature by celebrating tree blossoms , rice planting, the arrival of autumn. In fact, these are often some re-enactments of historical moments, such as battles between samurai clans or the plague epidemic.

There are many types of « matsuri ». They are specific to each part of ​​the country. I have attended many matsuri in Kyoto, where their historical character is very obvious. Matsuri in Kyoto are full of characters and traditional old Japanese atmosphere. The biggest one is Gion Matsuri.

I went to matsuri in some North-Eastern parts, especially in Sendai. There, the holidays are dedicated to different important moments of life and each season has its own matsuri.

This picture is taken at Aoba Dori Matsuri, meaning the Aoba Street Festival. This is the main avenue of the city. The celebration of spring is practically a parade of different groups of dancers, drummers or Japanese theatre groups. The dancers perform along some floats in which traditional scenes or acrobatic musical demonstrations of taiko take place. The energy and color of the dancers is transferable, and you, as both traveller and spectator, are charged with all that power and enthusiasm erupting from those in front of you.

One of the specific dances of this holiday is the “sparrow dance” (雀 踊 り, suzume odori). Dancers dressed in very brightly colored costumes, move with fans in their hands, on the rhythm of a lively traditional music, , while shouting in unison “sore, sore”.

This dance is actually a pure source of dynamic and colorful sound energy. Participating to such events is a true baptism in an ever-flowing  river of extraordinary invigorating and positive feelings.

The image is one of my great favourites from the Japanese period and it perfectly illustrates, through an extremely dynamic detail everything I tried to say here in a few words.

For more pictures of Japanese holidays, browse the “Japanese” galleries on provisualstock.com, which I am sure you already know what it is, right? “The place where the stories whispered by the fireside can be seen”?.