At first glance, Yokote's Bondon Matsuri in Northern Japan may seem rather innocuous. Tall decorative pools are paraded through the streets where later they are taken up a mountain and offered to a Shrine for the sake of a good harvest.
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Japanese Phallic Festival - Yokote's Bonden Matsuri
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Kamakura Matsuri - Japanese Igloo Festival
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February 15th-16th, the people of Yokote in Akita Prefecture in Northern Japan build two-meter tall snow huts known as Kamakura. Inside they have a small grill for keeping warm and for cooking mochi, chewy rice cake, and for heating up amezaki a type of sweet sake with almost no alcohol. Also inside is a small altar dedicated to Suijin-sama the god of water.
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Just another post about Hachikō, the dog who sadly kept vigil over Shibuya Station waiting for his dead master to return.
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Nishimonai Bon Odori - Japanese Dance for the Dead
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In the small town of Nishimonai in the northern prefecture of Akita, the locals perform a Bon Odori - a special dance for Obon which is a time for honoring the ancestors.
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The chemical pools of Osarizawa Mine
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Gorgeous blue chemical pools of a mine abandoned 30 years ago, with story of near-capture by security guards.
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Japanese display team dog savaged pet spaniel
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The Akita - a large Japanese breed - leapt off a platform and ran into the crowd rather than down a tunnel as soon as its lead was removed.
The dog, called Diego and claimed by his trainers to be "obedient and very gentle", clamped its jaws around the head of a Cavalier King Charles spaniel.
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Drumming Devils - Namahage Taiko
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Japanese Devils known Namahage come down from their mountains in Oga in Akita Prefecture to terrify lazy children. They also play taiko drum. These are some scenes of Namahage playing Taiko at the Sedo Matsuri - Namahage Festival.
Read more »Japanese Devils Scare the Laziness out of Kids
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In the northern Japan in the prefecture of Akita, in the area of Oga, hairy scary devils known as Namahage descend from their mountain lairs every New Years to terrorize lazy children.
In February, they put on a festival for tourists called the Sedo Matsuri. Namahage come down from the mountains carrying torches. Some of them dance, some of them play drums, and some just growl.
Read more »Morie Sawataishi: Saviour of Japan's akita Samurai dog
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In the Second World War, the akita – the ancient breed whose courage inspired Japan’s noble warriors – faced extinction.
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