9.7.07

sapporo, day 9

The last full day we spent in Sapporo, I spent the morning walking around the streets near our hotel and taking pictures. This door was just a few blocks down the street; I had never noticed it before. Susukino in the morning is a completely different place at night; there are just a few taxis on the street, and most people are going to work and school via bike and foot.
This is a Shinto shrine near the hotel. These are statues of Jiso, the Shinto patron of children and travelers. The shrine was dedicated to children who had died in childbirth, been orphaned, or died when they were young. People brought lots of trinkets and toys to leave at the shrine area before praying.
We attended the Shrine-jinja festival on the edge of Sapporo at a grouping of Buddhist temples. This festival is one of Japan's largest Buddhist festivals. We got to see lots of cool performances including yosakoi, taiko, and the dancing these ladies were performing (above.)
We also attended a martial arts demonstration and got to see the participants do all kinds of kicks and flips, and break concrete blocks with their feet and stone roof tiles with their foreheads. The kids above are watching the demonstration.
More pictures, as always, on flickr.

1 comment:

Enemy of the Republic said...

Thank you so much for coming to my blog. I would love to know more about your spiritual journey.