Monday, February 09, 2009

Miyako Festivals

Kagura early 1500s



Roh staged temple fire demon - Zanjioniyarai route (first year of Showa) 1926



Gion court music and dance [Gionbagaku] (no date)



Under Shrines Festival Spirit (no date)



Ebisu Festival (no date)



Toba Festival Minami Miyagi (no date)



Okayama Ken Isamu Shrine Festival boats (no date)



Gionechigoyashiromairi (no date)



Kurama - Yuki Shrine (no date)



White request (no date)



The Portable Shines Guon [Gionemikoshi] (9th century)



Bamboo Cutting Horse - Kurama Temple (10th century)



Fujimori Festival - every 10 years (8th century)



Dance (no date)



Imamiya Festival - Edo Period (no date)



Feast of Dolls (no date)



Hail Kamakura 1280



Taki lime radish crying - Satoru Isao Temple - Kamakura Period (no date)



Year-End Chestnut Festival (no date)



The Miyako1 Nenju Gyoji Gajo (Picture Album of Annual Festivals in the Miyako) is a 2-volume work, delicately hand-painted on silk by Nakajima Soyo in 1928 and available online [thumbnails] among the Nichibunken databases at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto (homepage in english).
"[The albums depict] the annual festivals and customs of Kyoto at the beginning of the Showa2 period. These paintings are accompanied by explanatory texts written by the folklorist and Kyoto scholar Ema Tsutomu."
1Miyako ('capital') is an archaic name for Kyoto [and Tokyo (Edo)]
2The Showa period corresponds to the reign of Emperor Hirohito (1926-1989*)

The mouseover titles in the above images -- most were spot/stain cleaned moderately -- are at best an approximation from wonky translations. The dates in the titles refer to the time each festival began, *I think*. There are a few more saved in the set.
Posted by peacay at

3 comments:

  1. Karla09 February, 2009 05:06

    The demonic figures are fun but I think I especially like the dark fiery festivals as I don't remember seeing these depicted before (in my relatively limited acquaintance with Japanese art).

    ReplyDelete
  2. {Tara}11 February, 2009 06:40

    The colors are just breathtaking!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous08 October, 2009 04:15

    I am doing an art project and out of curiosity for my prep sheet,who is the artist of these works

    ReplyDelete

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