Initial construction on the Shrine began in 656. The Shrine became the object of Imperial patronage during the early Heian period. In 965, Emperor Murakami ordered that Imperial messengers were sent to report important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines; and in 991, Emperor Ichijō added three more shrines to Murakami’s list. Three years later in 994, Ichijō refined the scope of that composite list by adding Umenomiya Shrine and Gion Shrine. From 1871 through 1946, the Yasaka Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.
- Wiki

On stage in Kyoto’s Yasaka Jinja for Setsubun Festival on the 3rd of February 2010 maiko-san Miharu, Kanoyumi, Kanoka and Ryouka dance for their adoring public. Pictured in the centre of the frame is Kanoyumi from the Gion Higashi Hanamachi.

Aoi Matsuri is one of Kyoto’s most famous festivals. It takes places in the height of summer on May 15th. A large procession of participants dressed in traditional costume form a large and incredibly impressive procession and leave Kyoto’s imperial palace at 10.30am before making their way first to Shimogamo-jinja and then Kamigamo-jinja in northern Kyoto.

With the help of what seems to be every last one of Kyoto’s boys in blue the streets are closed and the traffic lights controlled to allow the caravan through. Hundreds upon hundreds of brightly dressed and highly decorated volunteers stun drivers and passers by as they march through the streets carrying large props and traditional festival items.

The festival is thought to have begun during the reign of Emperor Kinmei in the sixth century. A series of natural disasters had destroyed crops throughout Kansai causing the Emperor to send priests and a retinue to the [...]

bamboo stalk in a shaft of sunlight

a setting that sparks off the imagination like nothing else

When walking through the Arashiyama bamboo grove one finds the wending paths occasional reveals a privileged view of a wall of tall, green stalks snaking away into the distance. The uniformity, the gentle sway as the wind blows through the glade and the strange combination of strength and flexibility evident in the innumerable glade creates a truly haunting atmosphere.
The gentle klok of the stalks as they jostle in the wind, the winking shafts of light that fight their way through the forest to the path, the pad of the tabi as a rickshaw is pulled past you and out of sight [...]

the grand entrance
A maiko is a trainee geisha in her final stages of training and here she is led into Yasaka Jinja by her mentor, or “mother, to perform for the Setsubun Festival.

This is a “Komainu” statue outside the main entrance to Yasaka-jinja Shrine in the Higashiyama area of Kyoto.
The word Komainu literally means Korean dog and is thought to derive from the Japanese word Koma that refers to the Koguryo kingdom of Korea.
Over the years they have been placed at the entrances to Japanese shrines to ward off evil spirits and have taken on the open and closed mouth depictions of the “Ah-Un” statues.
“Ah” represents the open, inhaling mouth and”un” represents the closed or exhaling mouth. Together they represent eternity, cyclicality and an unspoken bond between the guardians.
In the early Heian period (9th century) the two statues were clearly distinguished: the figure on the left, called shishi 獅子 (lion), [...]

Higashiyama paths

Higashiyama’s cobbled streets offer the world a taste of the Kyoto of our imaginations. The paths are narrow and cambered, the buildings are quaint and traditional. To see a geisha disappearing down on of these alleys, or even tourists who’ve paid to dress up as such, is the kind of haunting vision that probably attracted you to Japan in the first place.

tourists on the path to kiyomizu-dera.

Lining the paths that wend their way up to Kiyomizudera there are stores in which one can buy Kyoto crafts and gifts. They are, of course, aimed squarely at tourists and as such do not represent the finest craftsmanship Kyoto has to offer. [...]

These Buddhist prayer wheels are used to accumulate wisdom and merit or good karma and to purify negativities such as bad karma. The idea of spinning mantras comes from numerous Tantric practices where the Tantric practitioner visualizes mantras revolving around the nadis and especially around the meridian chakras such as the heart and crown. Therefore prayer wheels are a visual aid for developing one’s capacity for these types of Tantric visualizations. The spiritual method for those practicing with a prayer wheel is very specific (with slight variations according to different Buddhist sects). The practitioner most often spins the wheel clockwise, for the direction the mantras are written is that of the movement of the sun across the sky. However, on rare occasions advanced Tantric practitioners such as Senge Dongma, the Lion-Faced Dakini spin prayer wheels counterclockwise to manifest a more wrathful protective energy.

Bamboo water spout outside a Higashiyama town house [...]

This statue, found on Kyoto’s Nene no Michi represents a Bodhisattva who has achieved enlightenment and has elected to remain on the earth to guide others on their paths. He has been given an offering of tea by the neighbourhood people who look after Jizo statues in exchange for the symbolic and spiritual protection the Jizo sama gives. They are known for their protective stance towards children and are said to shepherd the souls of children who have had trouble finding their way to the afterlife.
This Jizo san has a shiny smooth belly. Legend has it that people rub his belly for luck and that the constant belly-buffing over the years has made him shiny.
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Jizo statues in beanie hats in Rokkakudo Temple, originally uploaded by Andy Heather.
A collection of well-tended Jizo-sama statues lined up in Rokkakudo temple in Karasuma-oike in Kyoto. The statues represent spirits of Bodhisatva who have achieved enlightement and have remained on the physical plain to help guide other on the path. In modern Japan they are offered clothes and food and tended to in the beliefe that they will protect the young and aid the spirits of deceased children who have failed to find their way to the afterlife.

via flickr.com

A large collection of Jizo Statues in the Ground of Rokkakudo in Kyoto’s Karasumoike area. This photo was composed of three exposures blended as an HDR image to achieve optimum detail in the shadows, midtones and highlights.