Nebuta Matsuri – Tachikawa
In August every year the legendary Nebuta Matsuri from the north of Japan visits Tokyo for real, in the western Tokyo city of Tachikawa. You don’t get many chances to see the real thing this far south so of course I went to see it. It’s a three day event and I caught the last of it. During the festival they parade huge lit floats of mythological characters made out of paper while dancers, drummers and flutists dance wildly around in their very colorful costumes and decorated amigasa headwear. The floats look great and the main street of the festival area is full of people enjoying the great food put out by the local shops and organizations. Tachikawa is only 27 minutes from Shinjuku on the fastest commuter train. I’ll post more photos later!
Wonderful night photos. What is your camera set up? I always try to take photos at night but its always hit or miss.
Thank you! This was a fairly basic D700 and prime lenses set up, I almost always shoot manual, underexposed a little. Of course, when shooting very high contrast scenes like this it becomes tricky. But I guess that is why I practice so much! I think the human eye has a light range of 12 f-stops, it would be like shooting with a camera where every part of the photo is lit to its own best f-stop, for 12 different stops! A normal digital camera only has a single shutter stops… So to learn how to pick the best moment and best angle to get as much in the picture as reasonably exposed as possible, that takes a lot of practice…
The flute guy with a colorful hat… I like his arm/hands shape! *o*;
Oh yes, rather shapely hands for a man!
Absolutely stunning.
When I was in Hirosaki and in Aomori I saw those huge lanterns in museums and thought it would be awesome to see it live once.
Thank you! I have never seen the main festival in Aomori, maybe some day! (^-^;)
The one before the last picture goes for the first place. It has somewhat different eyes for me, I love them!
Thank you Timi! (^-^)/
Amazing! Just amazing!
Thanks Kerioke!
Wonderful photos and great matsuri!
On NHK I saw a very interesting program about the fabrication of these huge floats! Amazing, a true masterpiece!
Thank you for the kind comment! (^-^) Yes, they are all hand made of paper… I can’t imagine the amount of work that goes into making them every year!