Jidai Matsuri Women – Kyoto

More of the lovely Jidai Matsuri or the Festival of the Ages in Kyoto, taking place annually through the center of Kyoto. The festival aims to show up important historical figures and costumes from the history of Kyoto, as a sort of historical reenactment celebration of the city’s illustrious history. The costumes ranges about a millenia of history so I am not very read up on the meaning of the different costumes, but among these, my favorite would be the last, with the fantastic colors, patterns and make up! If you are in Kyoto early autumn, make sure not to miss this fantastic parade starting at the Imperial palace and ending up at the Heian Shrine, once a year.

Jidai Matsuri Men – Kyoto

I took these photos of some of the many young and older men taking part in the grand Jidai Matsuri, or festival of the ages, in Kyoto a couple of years ago. From the flute playing young soldiers of the Meiji restoration to nobles of the Heian era, they all represents different eras of the long history of Kyoto.

To explain all the costumes and their significance would take the better part of a month of blog posts. During the festival I was surprised at a number of volunteers who were selling official festival guide books that looked more like magazines, so I am not alone in finding the subject somewhat complicated. Please enjoy the photos at least, even without any accompanying explanations!

Manzoku Inari Jinja – Summer Shrine in Kyoto

Summer is the time to tour the country and here is a very summerly shrine that I visited in Kyoto with the fantastic name of Manzoku Inari Jinja. I didn’t have time to stick around to learn anything about the shrine which still annoys me, but maybe someone reading this blogs knows more? There were plenty of statues around in this well kept shrine. There’s not many shrines actually, in the very buddhist city of Kyoto, so I usually try to drop in and have a look every time I pass one on my Kyoto city walks.

Kyoto Festival of the Ages

Some more costumes from the photogenic Kyoto Jidai Matsuri, the festival of the ages! One of my favorites are the gorgeous costumes worn by the women with the pointy white headwear. I think they might be saleswomen but I am not sure what era they recreate. The warriors don’t look half bad either but I always wonder how effective their bows could have been in combat?