Sheena Ringo in Concert!!! / 椎名林檎アリーナツアー！！！

Yesterday evening was one night that I'll never ever forget! I was able to cross an item off my bucket list so to speak. I finally got the chance to see my favourite singer-songwriter, Sheena Ringo in concert!! This is Ringo-chan's Arena Tour called "Ringo Expo '14... [read more]

Music Review - Shiina Ringo Reimports ~Port Authority~ / 椎名林檎 逆輸入 〜港湾局〜

Shiina Ringo released her latest full length album, "Reimports ~Port Authority~" last month on May 27th. The images in this post show the limited edition hardcover-book version. This album is a compilation of self-covers, meaning that all the tracks she's performing are songs that she wrote for other artists...[read more]

Sanja Matsuri ｜ 三社祭

 

Sanja Matsuri (三社祭) is one of the three great Shinto festivals of Edo (江戸) and has been celebrated the same way each year since approximately 1605. The name "Sanja" (三社), however, comes from a much earlier period when present day Asakusa Shrine (浅草神社), the center of the festival, used to be called Sanja Daigongen Shrine (三社大権現神社). For this reason some scholars say that the origins of the festival probably date back before the 17th century... [read more, see the video] 

Rising Sun: Enoshima / 江ノ島, part 1

The week before last I used some time off from work for taking a day trip to Enoshima (江ノ島). Enoshima is tiny island which is part of Fujisawa city (藤沢市) in the Kantō region's southern prefecture, Kanagawa (神奈川県). The characters comprising the name "Enoshima" mean Island of the Bay, which is an accurate description since...[read more]

Rising Sun: 七夕まつり ｜ Tanabata Festival

Rising Sun: 七夕まつり　｜　Tanabata Festival: This past week my wife and I traveled to her hometown, Sendai, to spend time with family and to give me my first chance to enjoy the famous Sendai Tanabata Festival (仙台七夕まつり "Sendai Tanabata Matsuri") together with them. The festival of Tanabata is celebrated throughout Japan at slightly different times, most commonly on July 7th (7/7), but not everywhere. The festival in Sendai is particularly famous and known by people all over the world... [read more]