The last time I went to Senso-ji at Asakusa was nearly two months ago, for the Sanja Matsuri (check out the breathlessly evocative photos I've taken of the festival here).
When I went there again yesterday, they were having the Hozuki Ichi (Ground Cherry Pod Fair), in which hundreds of street stalls were set up to sell ground cherry pods and wind chimes.
In one particularly popular stall, the customer gets to pose with the pretty vendor.
Apparently what she and the other vendors were wearing is what used to be worn by vendors selling Chinese Lantern Plants. This festival dates back over 200 years, hence the traditional fashion. (source: Tokyo Fashion, their post has more photos too)
Suddenly, just as it usually happens, another young girl in pink wandered into my shot, taking photos of a dog that belonged to one of the stall customers.
The girl in pink really liked taking photos of the dog. (As opposed to my personal indifference towards it)
I wasn't aware that the main hall of Senso-ji was under renovation.
But when I entered the hall, it remained busy.
Oh, what joy! To be able to see, in person, such an invaluable Japanese tradition! I'm always inquisitive, always eager to learn, when it comes to foreign cultures, especially when there is opportunity to immerse myself into the experience.
As a filmmaker, such exploration and constant adventuring prevents my pool of ideas from drying up. With each tiny discovery, my world view continues to evolve, to shift, to transform, never settling into a permanent state of stagnancy. A fatal trap that leads to delusion and narrow-sightedness, a damning obstacle for creativity, I have to say.
I believed these two young ladies in the yukata understood too. That's why for the very brief instance when the paths of our tumultuous and vastly different lives intersected in a crossroad constructed solely through serendipitious circumstances, they both allowed me the pleasure to capture the moment with the following photographs!
When I went there again yesterday, they were having the Hozuki Ichi (Ground Cherry Pod Fair), in which hundreds of street stalls were set up to sell ground cherry pods and wind chimes.
In one particularly popular stall, the customer gets to pose with the pretty vendor.
Apparently what she and the other vendors were wearing is what used to be worn by vendors selling Chinese Lantern Plants. This festival dates back over 200 years, hence the traditional fashion. (source: Tokyo Fashion, their post has more photos too)
Suddenly, just as it usually happens, another young girl in pink wandered into my shot, taking photos of a dog that belonged to one of the stall customers.
The girl in pink really liked taking photos of the dog. (As opposed to my personal indifference towards it)
I wasn't aware that the main hall of Senso-ji was under renovation.
But when I entered the hall, it remained busy.
Oh, what joy! To be able to see, in person, such an invaluable Japanese tradition! I'm always inquisitive, always eager to learn, when it comes to foreign cultures, especially when there is opportunity to immerse myself into the experience.
As a filmmaker, such exploration and constant adventuring prevents my pool of ideas from drying up. With each tiny discovery, my world view continues to evolve, to shift, to transform, never settling into a permanent state of stagnancy. A fatal trap that leads to delusion and narrow-sightedness, a damning obstacle for creativity, I have to say.
I believed these two young ladies in the yukata understood too. That's why for the very brief instance when the paths of our tumultuous and vastly different lives intersected in a crossroad constructed solely through serendipitious circumstances, they both allowed me the pleasure to capture the moment with the following photographs!
