The Suzume Mascot

Mascots are very popular in Japan right now with many companies, cities, and prefectures trying to capitalize on their popularity.

I guess this is the official sparrow of the dance.

That girl looks like she wants nothing to do with it.

The Rat Dance

I know about the history of the Sansa Dance from Morioka. The short version is that there was a demon terrorizing the town and the residents prayed to a god called Mistuishi, (Three Rocks). Mitsuishi caught the demon, forced him to imprint his hand on the rock (This is why Iwate (literally "boulder hand" is named) , and made him promise to go away. Then all the people broke out in dance to celebrate. A better description is here.

The Demon

One of the dancers wears a demon mask during the susume odori in downtown Sendai.

Sendai Aoba Matsuri: In Form

The Aoba Matsuri is held every May in downtown Sendai. Different companies and groups have "teams" that dance, sing, and play music while walking down the streets.

Night Yakitori

One of the food stands at the dontosai festival at Kamo Jinja.

Standing in Front of the Fire

During the dontosai festival, people burn the previous year's and New Year's decorations, charms, and other items as a way to pray for good fortune in the coming year.

This year I burned some of my shodo practice sheets. My teacher said it would [is thought to] increase my skill.

Ichibancho Holiday Lights

Sendai Ichibancho in the holidays.

Super Nova

This was an experiment to see if I could get some interesting light streaks in front of the lights on the trees. I even tried to combine two images, but I didn't properly adjust my settings, and those were too bright.

I like this shot simply because of the way the headlights look.

The Other

Well, she was one of many other photographers downtown on this night.

Bansui Dori

There are many pictures of street signs together with the Jozenji Star Light Pageant lights, so I wanted to get one for myself.

Look At All The People

To the right are the carolers. I think they were affiliated with a church and they were passing out comics of something that became a lot of litter on the benches. They did not approach me, or even say Merry Christmas to me though. Bah Humbug.

I Went Back

I couldn't resist going back to Jozenji one last time this year. While there I got to see these Santa singers.

Line Up

Despite the rain, people still came out to look at the festival lights.

A New Look

This year I decided to bring my 85mm down to to the Starlight Pageant to get a different look from my usual wider-angle look I usually take.

Golden Goodness

I think this is one of the best shots I have taken of Jozenji.

Turn Around

I think I should have cropped this on the left side since the traffic light is distracting.

Umbrellas Under the Lights

The famous vinyl umbrellas of Japan make for a nice foreground.

Faces in the Crowd

People walking home under the lights.

Say Cheese

There is a lot of this happening around the lights.

Lady of Jozenji

I thought that going downtown on a Friday night in the rain would provide me with private access to the lights.

I was wrong.