Day 240- Tradition

One thing I love about Japan is the sense of ritual and tradition.

At Shinto shrines they have Temizu basin’s, to wash your hands and purify. The ritual goes something like this (correct me if I’m getting it wrong)-

  1. Take the wooden ladle in your right hand and scoop up some water.
  2. Poor some water on your left hand.
  3. Transfer the ladle into your left hand and pour some water on you right hand.
  4. Transfer the ladle back into your right hand.
  5. Cup your left palm.
  6. Pour water into your cupped palm.
  7. Take some of the water from your palm into your mouth.
  8. Silently swish the water around your mouth.
  9. Quietly spit the water back into your cupped left palm.
  10. Hold the ladle in both hands and turn it vertically so the remaining water washed over the handle.
  11. Replace the ladle.
  12. It looks much more complicated written down.

Day-240

japanese-festival-lantern

Day 238- Lanterns

A little while back I posted some pictures I took during the fire fly season in Japan (see the picture below and some other here).

fire-flies

One balmy summer evening, around the same time, I made my way to a local town for a night time firefly cruise along the river. It was pretty magical, in a Disney kind of a way- gently drifting through the darkness, intermittently lit by bobbing green fairy lights. Unfortunately, darkness and the movement of the boat made pictures impossible. I had to settle for these shots of festival lanterns, lanterns that frequently pop up around towns in Japan, a prelude to an upcoming festivity or event. I couldn’t decided between black and white or colour so I thought I would put it to the vote.

japanese-festival-lantern