Photo catch up time!

I had the good fortune to be invited to a co-workers traditional Shinto wedding. This is a shot of the beautiful bride in her wedding kimono with the traditional make-up and hair-do.

The picture below depicts the kanushi, the man who presided over the wedding.

Here is a shot of the bride during the ceremony.
This is the beautiful place where the wedding was held. Beleive it or not, this is part of a hotel.

The next few shots are from a town festival called "Matsuri." Townfolk decorate the local shrine and celebrate! The children in the town practice the "Lion dance" for weeks. Then during Matsuri, the children play music and perform the dance (which is believed to drive evil spirits away) for the majority of houses in the neighborhood! This meant dancing from sun-up until sun-down for three days.

In the first shot, the children are wearing the town's garb.
In this shot, you can see the lion which has been possessed by evil spirits. The wise man on the left battles the lion and drives the evil spirit away.In the shot below, the older boys from Komatsu are pushing a cart with extra supplies for the dancers; the little wise-men danced with straw slippers and after hours of dancing on the concrete, their shoes would be completely ruined, so the older boys had extra shoes on hand.
After the sun sets and the dancing is done, everyone flocks to the shrine for food, dancing, games and socializing. Below is a picture of a game. Using a nail, people must carve shapes out of a flat, square piece of sugar without breaking it. When people succeed, they win a prize. I tried a few times, but broke all of my pieces!
Lanterns and lights adorn the plaza where taiko drumming took place and where the dancing took place.