The serenity. Solemnity. Not to mention incredible intensity. Of a Shinto priest.
Japanese Shinto priest: A portrait
Culture
A kimono wearing girl’s wishes
What she wrote is a mystery. Equally unknown is whether it will come true or not. But what is certain is that she was giving it a tremendous amount of thought.
Shichi-Go-San shadows
For Japanese children, the practice of Shichi-Go-San is both a rite of passage and the first time many of them will have worn traditional clothing. But casually walking about in his hakama, this young lad looked like he’d been wearing one for a length of time almost as long as his shadow.
The silence and serenity of Buddhist death rituals
Sad, certainly. Not to mention quiet. But perhaps because of those elements there was also an incredible sense of serenity.
A modern Japanese girl at a far more traditional festival
Japanese festivals attract all kinds of people, but the annual Tori-no-Ichi celebration at Shinjuku’s Hanazono Shrine is something else. Situated right by Kabukicho, Tokyo’s largest red light district, it attracts hosts and hostesses, plus a far less appealing but equally large number of yakuza and their ilk. A heady mix that means pointing one’s camera is best done with discretion, but at the same time, the results of doing so can definitely be worth it.
Japanese girls and a window into a different world
Looking at these three girls was like simultaneously seeing into the past and the future; a sense of what Japan once was, along with the hope of what it may become.
What they were looking at, however, is a mystery — apart from the little girl in the middle of course. The poor kid confronted with a peculiar, and in this case rather pasty sight, that in her lifetime could well become a necessity, instead of the novelty it invariably is now.
