Japan Photo Guide

Shinjuku Gyoen is one of the most famous and popular places for hanami (cherry blossom viewing) in Tokyo. The park itself is huge and literally has thousands of cherry blossoms trees, and a few different kinds. It might even be a little too big as I felt like I didn’t really know where to go; however, truth be told, it doesn’t matter so much where you go as I am sure you can find something to your liking.

I am a pretty big fan of Yoyogi Park and after visiting Shinjuku Gyoen, I think I still prefer Yoyogi, but I was really happy I went to see the cherry blossoms there. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Since I was across the street at Chidorigafuchi, I decided I might as well stop by the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. Why is it controversial? In a nutshell, this is a shrine dedicated to all those who died protecting Japan during times of war and according to the Official Yasukini Shrine Homepage:

Currently, more than 2,466,000 divinities are enshrined here at Yasukuni Shrine. These are souls of men who made ultimate sacrifice for their nation since 1853 during national crises such as the Boshin War, the Seinan War, the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, World War I, the Manchurian Incident, the China Incident and the Greater East Asian War (World War II). These people, regardless of their rank or social standing, are considered to be completely equal and worshiped as venerable divinities of Yasukuni.

So again, why all this controversy? See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

No, not Chocolate “Man” like a person, but pronounced “mahn.” Anyway, not too long ago I wrote about nikuman and mentioned that I would be missing it a lot. Like I said, there are many variations of nikuman and one such–and probably my favorite– is the chocolate one. There are a couple different chocolate ones I have found but the two I have photos of are just the regular chocolate “man” (commonly called chocoraman or chocoman) and the ever so sweet Belgium chocolate “man” (also known as Belgi chocoraman).

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Chidorigafuchi (Chidori-ga-fuchi) is part of the moat that surrounds the former Edo Castle and is one of the most famous places in Tokyo to see cherry blossoms. If you like, you can rent a row boat or a paddle boat. To be honest, there isn’t too much to say about this place that I cannot convey with my photos–besides where it is I guess… Kundashita or Hanzomon Stations on the subway are both within walking distance–so take a look and enjoy!

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Chalk this up in the category of bizarre Japan. This weekend I had the chance to go to Kanamara Matsuri, commonly referred to by foreigners as “The Penis Festival.” Every year Kanamara Shrine holds this festival on the 1st Sunday in April in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. According to Wikipedia:

The Kanamara Matsuri is centered around a local penis-venerating shrine, once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection against sexually transmitted diseases. It is said that there are divine protections also in business prosperity and the clan’s prosperity, easy delivery, marriage, and married couple harmony, etc. Today, the festival is used to raise money for HIV research. There’s also a legend of a demon that hid inside a young girl and castrated two young men on their wedding nights before a blacksmith fashioned an iron phallus that was used to break the demon’s teeth, leading to the enshrinement of the item.

Metropolis had this to say in their article about Kanamara Matsuri:

Today, the highlights of this saucy festival include transvestites parading through the town’s streets carrying a mikoshi (portable shrine) with a humongous pink phallus on top. And, if that’s not guaranteed to make you blush as deeply as the surrounding cherry blossoms, then the spectacle of grandmas and grandpas sucking on carnal candy and sweetmeat replicas of this stupendous phallus, is more than likely to. Other attractions include locals carving penises out of daikon (radish), children and young women sitting astride penis-shaped seesaws for good luck and fertility blessings, as well as a seated banquet in the compound of Kanamara Jinja (aka Wakamiya Hachiman-gu shrine) where the phallic radishes are auctioned.

As you might expect, because of the nature of this festival, the photos and videos I have are probably not safe for work (NSFW), but neither are they x-rated. The photos and videos from Kanamara Matsuri are not for everyone; however, they are somewhat interesting, sometimes surprising, usually inappropriate and definitely bizarre. If this sounds like something that would interest you, then continue on at your own risk to see the photos and a movie.

I have been in Japan for more than 3 years now and I am very rarely surprised by much of anything anymore…That being said, I was surprised about a couple things at this festival…
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