Himeji Castle Moon Viewing Festival
Between the heat of summer and the red leaves of autumn, there is another event in Japan. Although less celebrated, tsukimi (月見), or moon viewing, is also an important point in the Japanese calendar.
While looking for references, I found this blog that explains tsukimi in a nice way. So, instead of keeping my usual (long) explanations, I will recommend people to go there take a look.
One thing that should be noted is that the event follows the lunar calendar. Although it makes sense considering it's a moon viewing event, that also means the actual day changes every year in the usual Gregorian calendar. This year (2009), the day is October 3rd.
On that day, the moon is at its fullest. Also, skies were clear enough for clear visibility, with some occasional clouds that actually made the scene more beautiful.
Where was I? Back in Himeji for the Himeji Castle Moon Viewing Festival (姫路城観月会). At the park in front of the castle, people gather to watch performances, enjoy the moon, eat and drink. And about drinking, there is also another point that festival is famous for: buying just one cup of sake (500 yen, if I remember well), it is possible to drink all the sake you want from various makers who participate in the festival.
That also leads to very drunk people here and there. Anyway, that's a different story...
In my case, it was just a good opportunity to meet some friends in Himeji (or part of it as some people were absent) and take pictures of the moon and the castle.
Those may be my last pictures of the castle, so I could not miss the chance as well. Why? Well, besides the fact I'm approaching graduation, Himeji Castle will go under restoration from this moon viewing festival to 2014.
To those who have never been there, until March it seems they will only bring materials for the restoration, so it will still be possible to see and go inside the castle. Don't miss this chance.
While looking for references, I found this blog that explains tsukimi in a nice way. So, instead of keeping my usual (long) explanations, I will recommend people to go there take a look.
One thing that should be noted is that the event follows the lunar calendar. Although it makes sense considering it's a moon viewing event, that also means the actual day changes every year in the usual Gregorian calendar. This year (2009), the day is October 3rd.
On that day, the moon is at its fullest. Also, skies were clear enough for clear visibility, with some occasional clouds that actually made the scene more beautiful.
Where was I? Back in Himeji for the Himeji Castle Moon Viewing Festival (姫路城観月会). At the park in front of the castle, people gather to watch performances, enjoy the moon, eat and drink. And about drinking, there is also another point that festival is famous for: buying just one cup of sake (500 yen, if I remember well), it is possible to drink all the sake you want from various makers who participate in the festival.
That also leads to very drunk people here and there. Anyway, that's a different story...
In my case, it was just a good opportunity to meet some friends in Himeji (or part of it as some people were absent) and take pictures of the moon and the castle.
(Note: this is a computer processed picture. The moon and the castle weren't that perfectly aligned.)
Those may be my last pictures of the castle, so I could not miss the chance as well. Why? Well, besides the fact I'm approaching graduation, Himeji Castle will go under restoration from this moon viewing festival to 2014.
To those who have never been there, until March it seems they will only bring materials for the restoration, so it will still be possible to see and go inside the castle. Don't miss this chance.
2 comments:
Hey Madness!
This "in between seasons festival"(Tsukimi, right?) seems to be really interesting! I've never heard about this date.
Your camera seems to be really nice. Wich model do you owne? I bought one of those small digi-cameras, Canon PowerShot 14.7mp. Is a good one, but today I rather wished to buy a "semi-professional" model. Your pictures looks very nice! (:
Luckily, I've been to Himeji Castle in time during my trip to Japan on the beginning of this year! I can't believe it will be closed all this time till 2014! I'm posting some pictures (in a very slowly rhythm)of the trip in my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrono8/
(Oh man! I should have sent an e-mail! Look the size of this comment!)
Hi Leo
My camera is a Nikon D60. A good model for those who are dealing with a DSLR for the first time. I am bothered by some limitations every now and then, but overall it's a good camera.
And for night pictures like those in this post, I also have a tripod.
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