Category: Photography

Captures I’m able and willing to share.

Kamegawa Dam -亀川ダム-

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One of the local sights in Amakusa is a dam in the small locality of Kamegawa, aptly called Kamegawa Dam. This dam’s construction began in Showa 43, Western calendar 1968, and was completed in Showa 57, Western calendar 1982. It is based around a Doumeki Lake, also known as Doumekiko (道目木湖). There’s not a whole lot to the dam itself but a few simple but beautiful views, but across the way from where I took these pictures is a small park, where my earlier pictures for Sakura in Bloom were taken. It was a pleasant excursion indeed. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Yamaga Toro Festival -山鹿灯籠祭-

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This is a photo roundup of the Yamaga Toro Matsuri, an Obon festival held in August every year by the city of Yamaga in Kumamoto Prefecture. This festival is a crowded one indeed, but worth a visit, as it features several traditional dances, among which is the 1000 Person Lantern Dance, or Sennin Toro Odori (千人灯籠踊り). As you can tell from the images below, 1000 female participants perform a traditional dance in traditional garb, all with a lantern placed delicately upon their crowns. At the close of the festival, at a shrine a bit uphill from the elementary grounds the dance was performed at, many groups gift scale models of traditional buildings or scenes to the shrine, which are then blessed by a Shinto priest and received by the shrine. To my extreme surprise, as I went to grab an omikuji, or fortune, at the reception area alongside the shrine, I was told I won a prize! Which was a silver paper lantern just like those the dancers wore! So the festival ended on a nice note for me, with just the right amount of luck – daikichi, or big luck! :)

Yatsushiro Fireworks Festival 八代花火大会

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Throughout Japan, there are several national festivals celebrating fireworks, where many well-known fireworks-makers get together and show off their products. One of these occurs relatively close to my placement in a town called Yatsushiro. This is one of the more crowded events I’ve been to in Japan, because everyone goes crazy for a fireworks show here, not to say I blame them. This type of show is usually worth a visit due to the breadth and depth of the show, showcasing works for a good hour or two.

I decided to attend the event with a friend, and we rode into town on the train a good hour before the show started. As some of my friends realized after the fact, traffic is horrible in the area surrounding the event space, which spans both sides of a river and most roads in the Japanese countryside are one lane, so it’s advisable to use public transport at times like these. The show didn’t start until 6 but we headed down at about 4:30, which was a really good call! As I said before, this is a crowded event, and even at 4:30 the trolley to the train station and subsequently the train was filled to the brink with people. Thanks to being an obvious foreigner, I was somewhat spared the people sandwiching due to my natural ‘gaikokujin aura,’ holding the Japanese around me at arm’s length through no effort of my own.

This particular show is held in late summer, so it’s a bit hot if you go, but if you bring a blanket or a chair and a couple of buds to man the space while you each track down snacks and drinks, it’s a great time. A lot of fireworks companies apparently come down to the area to showcase some of their better fireworks, with small breaks in between each company’s display. It was really worth seeing, so if you notice there’s one around you, definitely go at least once!