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| This is the Hachioji Summer Festival. You can see many Japanese traditions, such as the "yukata," floats, and "kagura," pictured below. |
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Here, a young mother is wearing a traditional "yukata," an informal cotton kimono for summer wear. Notice her good taste in the expensive tie-dyed yukata, and the small boy in her arms is also dressed for the Summer Festival. They are gazing at the "kagura" dance, charmed by the dancers and accompanying bamboo flutes and drums. |
| Here, a woman is taking part in the drum performance. Many of the festival drummers are female these days, evidence of the increasing societal roles played by Japanese wemen. |  |
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The "kagura," sacred Shinto music and dance on the parade floats, is essential to Japanese festivals. The dancer shown in the picture is wearing a humorous mask and dancing comically. |
| Fireworks displays are everywhere during the summer in Japan. The fireworks at Lake Suwa are the most famous ones, due to the fact that the beautiful fireworks are reflected on the surface of the water, and the magnificent scale of the fireworks is impressive to the audience. |  |
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You can see the atmosphere of the Hachioji Summer Festival. In the
center of the picture, there is a big float with a man standing on it.
Under the float there are many men and some women carrying it. They are
wearing "happi," humorously translated into English as a "happy coats."
Pictures courtesy of Tadao Iwaki. |
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Tokyo, Japan "We love email" |