day 321 - let there be (bamboo) light...

[Thousands of people have emailed and begged me to post more bamboo images. Who am I to ignore the masses? - Rob]

Nothing says "Japan" like a traditional bamboo/ paper lantern...

Man-height traditional bamboo and paper lantern.

Ponticho district,

Kyoto.

Lanterns,

Gion, Kyoto

Lone lantern,

Aboshi.

Lantern festival.

Shinto Shrine,

Oshio.

Lanterns being disintegrated.

Aboshi Lantern Festival.

The bamboo-and-washi lamp in our apartment.

day 295 Aboshi Lantern Festival

Charge!

When we first heard that Aboshi hosted an annual Lantern Festival, this was the serene scene we envisaged. Or perhaps tea-lights floating on a tranquil lake.

But that doesn't happen.

It begins with a quiet communal song gradually rising in volume and pace.

At some particular point in the song everyone runs together and the bamboo-and-paper lanterns collide

until they are totally destroyed...

Then the participants smash the bamboo poles until they too are destroyed and the men are exhausted. It's all good clean violent fun! When it all gets a little too frenetic a 'referee' blows a whistle and the 'play' is suspended. Amazingly, with all the flying lanterns and shards of bamboo, we didn't see any injuries.