The world is so Kalandrakas... » Festival

Tanabata: The Wish Festival

jesslee — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:34:42 +0000

Tanabata is a popular celebration in Japan which is, in modern times, held on the the first weekend of July. Also known as wish festival, Tanabata is derived from the Chinese star festival, Qi Xi (七夕 “The Night of Sevens”)．

It celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). According to legend, the Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The celebration is held at night. — Wikipedia

Around the first week of July, festivals are held in many places in Japan. Streets are are decorated with colorful paper streamers and lanterns.

In Japan, people write their wishes on narrow strips of paper and hang them on trees or bamboo branches placed in the backyards or in the streets where the festival is on.

Below are some of the wishes people write on the colored paper strips.
“I want to be happy.”,
… “I want to be rich.”,
“I want to be good in tennis…”,
… “We wish to be forever in love with each other.”

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All the photos were taken at the Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa.

Novena Mass in Basilica del Sto. Niño Church

jesslee — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:00:05 +0000

Basilica del Santo Niño is a 16th century church in Cebu City in the Philippines. It is known to be the oldest church in the Philippines. It was built on the exact spot where the image of the Santo Niño, a sculpture depicting the Holy Child Jesus was founded by Spanish explorers in 1565 preserved in a burned wooden box which was left behind during the 1521 Magellan expedition. –Wikipedia

I went to visit the church during its 2nd day of novena for the celebration of the Feast of Santo Niño, or popularly known as the Sinulog.

The Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January. The festival honors the so called vision of the child Jesus, known as the Santo Niño (Holy Child), who used to be the patron Saint of the City of Cebu (since in the Catholic faith Jesus is not a saint, but God). It is a dance ritual that commemorates the Cebuano peoples Islamic and pagan origin, and their acceptance of Roman Catholicism. –Wikipedia

Here are some of the photos I took inside and outside the church.

A vendor taking a break from selling candles.
I thought at first she was praying, but look closely…

Sto. Niño images being sold along the sidewalk.
FYI: The Santo Niño was given by Magellan to the chieftain of Cebu, Rajah Humabon (Carlos), and Hara Amihan (Juana) in 1521.

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Devotees wave their arms as they sing “Batobalani sa Gugma” (Magnet of Love)
Because the number of devotees keep increasing over the years, a pilgrim center was built within the church compound opposite of the Basilica and Holy Mass is celebrated on Fridays and other Religious Festivities are held here in the open-air, theater-like structure.

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A close up shot of the devotees singing “Batobalani sa Gugma”

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A devotee raising an image of the Sto. Niño as he struggles to go near the pilgrim center.

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Next, I will post some photos I took during the Sinulog festival last 2007. (Too bad I missed the festival for three straight years.)

Halloween in Japan: Kawaii or Kowai?

jesslee — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:06:27 +0000

The annual Kawasaki Halloween Parade this year was held on October 31st. It is said to be one of the biggest Halloween parades in Japan. It was my second time to see the parade and I’m still quite impressed with the participants. Their costumes were amazing. They can described as either ‘kawaii’ or ‘kowai’.

In Japan, ‘kawaii’ means ‘cute’, and ‘kowai’ is ’scary’. (Be careful when you try to use them. You don’t want to get yourself embarrassed after mistakenly saying ‘kowai’ to a cute little Japanese kid, instead of saying ‘kawaii’).

The Mario Family. Kawaii ne~!

Screams. Uwa~, kowai~!

HEAD, HEad, head Yeah, it looks kowai, but it has some kawaii-ness. :p

The mummy is belong to us! The baby is so kawaii~~ ^_^

Zoombie chick. I’m gonna cut your head off if you say she’s kawaii.

Sweet Butterfly. Hands off, humanz. She’s mine. Kawaii ne!

Hamaorisai Festival in Chigasaki

jesslee — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:22:28 +0000

Hamaorisai Festival is held annually at Nishihama Beach in Chigasaki City. This is a summer festival where people take the mikoshi, or portable Shinto shrine, into the sea to please the god living in it. This year’s festival was held on the 20th of July, which is also the Umi-no-Hi (or the Ocean Day).

The festival starts very early in the morning at 4:00am.

A portrait of a man waiting for his group to take the mikoshi into the water.

Struggling with the waves is one challenging job of this festival.

There’s been a “competition” among the shrines. Each group tries to be the one to go the farthest and longest out to the sea.

After all the mikoshis are taken into the water, they are lined up and blessed by offering fruits and vegetables.

This festival is one of the most challenging photoshoots I’ve had. I got soaked and almost drop my camera into the water.

I would like to thank Levi for inviting and offering his place for us to stay overnight.

Tanabata Festival

jesslee — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:14:09 +0000

Tanabata was originally about a Chinese love story of a princess and a cowherd being separated by the king. Traditionally in present-day Japan, people celebrate Tanabata by writing their wishes on colorful, small strips of paper called tanzaku…

…and hang them on bamboo branches…

The streets are decorated with huge colorful hanging lanterns which kids enjoy watching…

…especially at nights when these lanterns are being lighted.

This was during the Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa. This is the biggest Tanabata festival held in the Kanto Area. The most famous one is held in Sendai.

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