Children held high under the clear skies for crying sumo= The Shitodomaekawa Temple in Yokohama's Aoba Ward
On May 5th's Children's Day, babies were held under the blue skies at the Shitodomaekawa Temple in Shiritoridai, Aoba-ku, Yokohama City. In request for their healthy maturation, the babies took part in a crying sumo bout.
This is the first time the temple has held the crying sumo event. Crying sumo is spread nationwide by the Non-Profit Organization Isshin (All one's might) Naki Sumo (Japanese site). Rikishi from Japan Sport Science University's weightlifting department were in charge of holding the children.
Chief Priest Toyoura of Shitodomaekawa Temple commented "Aoba-ku has many young couples and many babies. I would like for this event to take root in the area."
Original text:
青葉区の神社で泣き相撲、こどもの日に赤ちゃんの成長を祈願/横浜
2012年5月5日
This giant 3 stringed kite takes off, substituting an even larger one=Sagamihara City's Shindo Sports Pavilion
Due to the rain, the largest kits weren't able to take off. This two-stringed kite gently dances in the sky=The Sagami river grounds of Zama City
As part of the Boy's Festival Celebration which was continued since the Edo period, Sagami and Zama City's Giant Kite Festival was held on the 4th, beginning on the flood plains of both cities. Because of an unfortunately timed rain, smaller kites that were brought along substituted the giants, still bringing cheers from the visitors. The event lasts until the 5th.
Last year's Sagami Giant Kite Festival was suspended due to the Eastern Japan disaster. The Shindo Sports Pavillion is the grounds for this year's event. The flying of the largest kite, at 14.5 square meters (taking up the space of 128 tatami) and fitted with newly furnished controlling strings had to be abandoned due to the unpredictable weather. Nevertheless, occasionally during intense, steady rain, the 5.4 square meter 3 stringed kite was able to fly up to 10 seconds.
Meanwhile, Zama's giant kite featured the characters "Rising Dragon," which can be connected to both the 2012 Year of the Dragon (Chinese zodiac) and Eastern Japan's rise from disaster. The size of the kite was 13 square meters, suitable for 102 tatami. Another giant kite that took off featured Zama City's mascot, Zamarin. It measures at 3.6 square meters and was controlled by two strings.
Both cities saw a magnificent scene on the first day. Facing the next day, Yoshizawa Miyoshi (68) of Sagami's Giant Kite Cultural Preservation Association commented: "It's been two years since flying the giant kites. We wish to extend our prayers towards the restoration of the disaster area. Shikano Masashi (75) of Zama City's association added: "When we fly the kites tomorrow, by all means we'll be thinking of Eastern Japan's recovery."
(Video of the event found on Youtube)
Original text:
雨で相模と座間の大凧見送り、小凧揚がり歓声/神奈川
2012年5月5日
Caption: The
public monument of an armored Hojo Soun.
At the north
entrance of Odawara Station, Hojo Soun's statue, covered in armor and a
jinbaori greets passing
tourists and citizens.
Hojo Soun was
victorious in the battle with the Omori Clan during the 4th year of the Meio period.
Afterwards, 5 generations of Hojo controlled the Kanhashuu (Translation note: Presently Kanto)
region for roughly 100 years. While in the city, his image can be seen standing
mightily, becoming a symbol of Odawara Station.
On May 3rd of
each year, the Odawara Hojo Godai Festival takes place, featuring a battle
commencement ceremony and parade of Hojo's warriors. During the festival, they
march to the station and change the clothing on the armored monument. The
clothing work is handled by Odawara city's "Handmade Armor Corps."
During the Golden Week period, all types of
events are held in Odawara to attract many visitors. On Children's Day, kids can be seen on the
back of the Hojo Soun Monument, having their pictures taken.
A parade of heroic soldiers emerge from Odawara's Castle Ruins Park=The castle grounds of Odawara City
Odawara City's most attended event, the 48th Odawara Hojo Godai Festival (Celebrating 5 generations of the Hojo Clan), was held on the 3rd in the area of Odawara Castle. It was organized by the city's tourism association. Despite a portion of the festivities having to be changed due to rain, the organizers announced that 12,000 visitors packed the castle's interior and it's surrounding roads.
A battle commencement ceremony took place in Odawara's Castle Ruins Park. As a voice yelled "Okay, set-off!" figures of ninjas and armored warriors took off in a line. The army of 1250 marched 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) to the Odawara train station area.
An ambassador for his hometown of Odawara, actor Kai Ato dressed up as the first generation Hojo Soun. Mounted on a horse, he selected from the audience someone to perform the important task of playing third generation Hojo Ujiyasu. Five participants of the parade came from Souma City of Fukushima Prefecture, which was damaged by the disaster of Eastern Japan.
Original text:
小田原北條五代祭り、１２５０人が勇壮に武者行列/神奈川
2012年5月4日
It looks like
Kyushu is becoming a new spot for retro games.
The
"Strawberry Fields" variety store of Shibushi, Kagoshima Prefecture
appears to have an unusually large collection of SFC (Super Famicom), SS (Sega
Saturn) and other retro games.
I've grown to
really miss getting drunk with friends, playing games such as Super Wagan Land 2...
Besides a wide
selection of new software, plenty of used games in relatively good condition
were also being sold. "Isn't this actually a game shop?" I began
wanting to ask the store, which maintains that it deals in everything.
It’s become a
rare occurrence in this day and age for even specialty game shops to deal with
Super Famicom and Sega Saturn software. Considering the scope of titles, minor
to major, and how many of them are in excellent condition on top of that, it
could be said that this store feels miraculous.
In the store, while
holding an (alcoholic) drink in one hand and thinking of how fun these games
were…I thought of how it would be a good location to hold an event. People could
gather and noisily reminisce on the games of the past.
