Uneme-Festival under the harvest moon

We have a custom that  admire the harvest moon on the night of August 15th of the lunar calendar.
People admire the harvest moon,taking a tea-ceremony at some temples. Also people put japanese-pampas-grass or puddings etc to that moon.
 Uneme-Festival(采女祭り） was also taken place on that night at Uneme-Shrine(采女神社） in Nara city, floating two boats on Sarusawa-pond.


Before boarding boats, they parade in clothes of those days from 5:00 p.m.

A role of Uneme is riding in the cart, I think. We can see a woman with a folding fan in it.

Thank you. Volunteers.

This is called "Hana-ogi"(a fan made by flowers) and decorated with flowers of Autumn, Japanese pampas grass, cockscomb, gentian, chrysanthemum, etc. This is placed in the center of Sarusawa-pond  at the last of the festival.

    One of boats has a head  like this, a dragon or ?

                After sunset and began the dark. The harvest moon already has risen in the east.

                          The torch lights on the surface of the pond.

  The boat slides silently with the tune of Gagaku under the harvest moon.


Uneme-Shrine stands at side of Sarusawa-pond.  But oddly enough, the shrine shows it's back to the pond.

According to "Yamato-monogatari "( The tale of Yamato. Nara is called Yamato. This story
 was written in around 10th century)
There was a very beautiful Uneme( Uneme is occupation and is maidservant to take care of a Emperor) in Nara period. The capital of Japan was in Nara city in 8century. She was favored specially by a Emperor but the Emperor changed his mind. So she was very sad and committed suicide by throwing herself into Sarusawa-pond.People build Uneme-shrine beside Sarusawa-pond to comfort her spirit. But the shrine couldn't watch the pond that she threw herself into and showed its back to the pond in one night.

This small shrine (Uneme-shrine ) shows its back to the Torii.

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                  At daybreak

An amateur cameraman muttered " The sun would rise around two five-storied-pagodas  in high summer" when I was taking this. So Time flies. May the coming months bring us happiness!



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I happen to meet

Hot days are still lasting around here. But tsukutsukuboshi-cicadas  start chirping instead of large brown cicadas were chirping in high summer.

I went to find flowers blooming now at a botanical garden in Nara .
Passion flowers were blooming there. I've never seen them . According to wikipedia, missionaries of Society of Jesus believed that this is "the flower on the cross". As a ovary of the flower is a cross, pistil divided into three on the top is nails, five petals and calyxes are ten apostles.
But we Japanese compare it to a clock. The construction of the flower make us imagine  a dial of a clock. We call it "Tokei-So"( Tokei means clock and So means plant.)  A passion fruit is a fruit of a passion flower.

                                                                Passion flower

                                                        What time is it now?



These flowers were blooming in the botanical garden. But I don't know those names. Sorry!

A kind of herb

                                

                                                      A flower, kind of gourd

                                                          Vivid dahlia

I stopped at beach "Nishiki-no-hama" on my way to the airport. The freeway to the airport was running along  the beach.  Once it's a large white sand beach and many beautiful pinewood spread around there. When I was a child I have swum there. But Kansai International Airport was built off the shore and a freeway to approach  to Osaka city( the second big city in Japan),too. So visitors are bathing, watching the  arrival and departure of planes.
Some groups of student  were enjoying the end of their summer holiday, having a barbecue, playing volleyball or bathing etc.

A plane is going to touch down at the Kansai International Airport where was built in the man-made island  off the beach in the Osaka bay.

We watch the shining roof of the airport over shimmering sea and a bridge between the island and the mainland. Also planes are staying on the ground of the airport over the bridge. Can you see some planes with red tail?

I walked around paddy fields, thinking how much have rice grown now. White rice flowers were blooming early in the morning. So the field will change from green to gold in Autumn. I like new rice so much.

           Ears of rice appear and small white flowers bloom for brief. They were shining in the morning sun.

My camera caught white thing in a grain( the second grain from the top). This is already rice,I wonder? or.....




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Thousands of candle lights

A classic annual event, "Cyugen-man-toro "was taken place at Kasugataisya-shrine in Nara city on the 14th and 15th in August. This shrine's origin dates back to the 8th century. All lanterns in the shrine are lit and ancestor's happiness or everyone's  happiness are prayed. Those lanterns are donation by the rich or the poor in many age. So every lantern has a family  heraldry that contributed it.

                                     Many lanterns are hanging at cloisters surround the shrine.

                             I like this pattern, wisteria. I wonder which family's heraldry is this?

             Here is dark usually. But anyone can light a candle in a lantern today.

Here in Nara Park, an annual event " Tokae"is taken  place at night  from the 5th to the 14th in August. About twenty thousand  plastic vessels with lit a candle  in make some pictures on the ground in Nara Park or even World Heritage Site. They were put on the ground, shaping something like river, heart shape etc.  Anyone can  light a candle and place a vessel, hoping  everyone's happy.

Candle lights' magnificent pattern silhouette prey.

         Candle lights waver in Forest-of-Kasuga quietly, gently,hopefully.

This is made by ice and a candle is burning in it.  This was put in front of the entrance of Himuro-Shrine. Himuro means ice house .There was not refrigerators in old days. But  ice was kept in the place like an ice house from winter to summer about 1300 years ago and offered it to the emperor.

There is a custom "the Bon Festival" in Japan from a long time ago. The spirit of our ancestors come back to our home during the Bon Festival (generally from 13th to 15th in August). So we visit the family tomb ,clean it, lay flowers or incense sticks on the family tomb .

                                           Candle light is burning in bamboo.
As the spirits of ancestors stay our home during the Bon Festival, we prepare the meals for them or make offerings, fruits, vegetables  etc at our family Buddhist altar for them.  Of course their meal is a little  syojin-ryori(Buddhist Vegetarian Cuisine) in five small tableware lacquered are set on a tray with legs in our case. We also ate Syojin-Ryori during the Bon Festival generally. But recently  people have a feast with meat because for example children are on their own come back their parents' home during the Bon Holiday. Bon Holiday is a good chance to family gathering.
The family priest comes our home to sing sutra for the spirits of our ancestor.
We see the spirits off on the 15th.

World Heritage Site in Nara Park are lit up.  Kongo-rikisi-zo (This is a god guards Todaiji-temple and stands at its gate with another god)was lit up during this term,too. I've never seen well but a powerful statue. This was made with wood  about 800 years ago. It's 8.36m tall and the weight is 6.6t.

This is a hanging scroll. We hang it at an alcove at Buddhism affair in our case. Forty-four temple's vermeil seals are stamped on it.


 The unprecedented big earthquake and tunami struck in Tohoku area in Japan on 3.11. It has past  five months. But about four thousand and six hundred people are still missing .
And the tunami washed  innumerable houses. I wonder where the spirits of  ancestor  was washed their house come back to during the Bon Festival and where the spirits of missing people will wander? It's very bitter for people stayed behind the missing.  I can do nothing but pray.

                                         

While daytime in Nara Park, too hot!
This is a building of hexagon called Ukimido. This is built in Sagi-Pond.
Crepe myrtle around this pond are in full bloom now. These petals look like crepe.

His eyes and my eyes met by chance.

Oriental lily in Matuo-temple.

I

                                                                   In my garden.

Lotus flower in Nara

The lotus flower are in full bloom now at Kikoji-temple in Nara city. There are many kind of lotus.

Lotus came over from the Asian Continent to Japan in old days.
It has much to do with Buddhism. Lotus bear from muddy water and bloom clean,beautiful flowers. It symbolize wisdom and mercy of Buddha.
Lotus flower reminds me of a story for children of Japan.   Lotus flower, mercy and wisdom of Buddha appear in the story.

The story begins like this " One day Buddha was walking around a lotus pond in heaven. All lotus flowers are pure white and there is sweet fragrance  from the golden heart of lotus flower around there. It's just in the morning in heaven now and Buddha looked down from among lotus leaves in that pond. There is bottom of hell just far below lotus pond of heaven. So you  can see clearly hell through the pond water like crystal.

Let me continue this story.
Buddha sees Kandata, who is so villain.  He is struggling in hell with a lot of villains.
He has done only one good thing  though he is a villain. He has helped life of a spider long ago.  Remembering it, Buddha decides to get him heaven and hung a thread from heaven to hell in the  far below.
Kandata starts to climb up the thread hardly. Keeping climbing the thread for long time, he looked down below accidentally. A large number of villains are climbing up the thread,  following him.

He freezed because he thought the thread will be broken  by weight of a large number of villains.
So he shouted at those followers  loudly "This thread is for only me. Get down! Get down!"

Right after the shouting, the thread snaped at just a little upper part of his grip.
He and all villains fell down into the dark hell far below.
While here in heaven which is fragrant with lotus flowers.

Yes, this story is well-known " The thread" written by Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

        47 stone image of Buddha are following lotus. Some kind of Buddha are engraved on stones

Here in Nara, many lotus flowers color World Heritage Site.

Lotus leaves shed raindrops well. Raindrops roll on lotus leaves as you know and fall down with dirt of leaves. So lotus leaves always clean though they are planted in muddy pond. This effect of self-cleaning is applied to the newest technique that guard roof or walls of buildings from dirt adhesion, according to a paper.
                                                                        
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                 .Don't feel sick looking at this photo.
The eclosion of cicada.

It came out of below the earth on the next night after typhoon hit Japan. It's good the eclosion was not took place on the night of typhoon.

             Splitting shell's back, it started to come out from the upper half of the body.

I found it at the stairs build by cement in our garden not trees  at night.
Cicada live for 3or 17 years . This is longer life among insects. But cicada live only short period after coming out of below the earth. So  it recalls sense of mortality to people in Japan before.  Cicada representative of pathos.
While in China, cicada is symbol of revival, I heard.

After coming out all the body, it grabs the shell with its forelegs to stretch wings.

It took about 30 minutes from the upper picture to the bottom picture. And the next morning it had already flown away ,leaving the shell and it must be the one of them that are singing loudly in our garden now.

                         
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               Secretly   :      Mizutani small shrine among deep forest in Nara Park. Lotus Flowers are blooming near here,too.

                  
                   Hello   :   We were met by him at Mizutani small shrine. They are hosts of the forest in Nara Park.