Kamakura is a chill town
so last friday i went to kamakura, an hour south of tokyo. it used to be the capital of japan way back in the day… it is a really chill beach town steeped in history with tons of temples.
this statue is probably the most epic thing ive seen in japan, it is the ofuna kannon, a statue and icon for world peace
you have to climb a giant hill to get up to it
this is what it basically looks like from the train, which adds to the sheer epicness of it.
there were alot of surfers out, even though there was only like a barely 1 foot swell
SPRINGTIME!
buddha protectors
lush and green!
beachy!
sweet cave. i dedicated a little statue to all my friends and family. as a side note, there is this other temple in kanagawa, which is really sweet. its called tamagawa daishi. basically, you go down into this cave tunnel and its pitch black, you follow it, tracing your hand along the wall and you come into a few lighted sections with shrines and stuff, and there are these bells going off, its really trippy and epic. anyways…
most. adorable. buddha ever.
second biggest buddha in japan
why is this sign in old english?
school kids backpacks are awesome
it would be sweet to rent a beach house in this town
the pinnacle of television history
i wanna be the red sweater kid hecka bad! this is absolutely amazing! and i want the horn section to follow me around all the time! this is the best thing ive ever seen on the internet, hands down.
a superbly bizarre day in japan
well, im pretty sure that today i witnessed/experienced my most bizarre japanese experience…. the kawasaki penis festival.
kanawara matsuri.. explained by wikipedia
The Kanamara Matsuri (Festival of the Steel Phallus) is an annual Shinto fertility festival held in Kawasaki, Japan in spring. The exact dates vary: the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April. The penis forms the central theme of the event that’s reflected everywhere; in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decoration, a parade of mikoshis, etc.
The Kanamara Matsuri is centered around a local penis-venerating shrine, once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection against sexually transmitted diseases. It is said that there are divine protections also in business prosperity and the clan’s prosperity, easy delivery, marriage, and married couple harmony, etc. Today, the festival is used to raise money for HIV research. There’s also a legend of a demon that hid inside a young girl and castrated two young men on their wedding nights before a blacksmith fashioned an iron phallus that was used to break the demon’s teeth, leading to the enshrinement of the item.
bizarre. here are the photos
i didnt get the impression that this was a homosexual event, although i witnessed alot of latently homosexual action… and alot of women posing dirtily with penis lollipops and a giant wooden penis..
this wheelchair laden dude had a giant wooden phallus coming out of his pants. he gave me a high five
these guys were really stoked to carry the giant steel phallus mikoshi (みこし）
really stoked on a giant metal penis
this guy had a really big phallus with him
one of the shrines
the metal shrine people were dressed in traditional japanese clothes, but the big pink people were mostly dressed in womens clothing
the big pink crowd was way more obtuse… at least the big metal crowd was pretty subtle… as far as big penis sculptures go
scary mask dude preceding the phallus parade
man this festival was gaijin city! i couldnt get any good shots in the crowd until i joined them
this was for sure the weirdest day in japan… shinto is bizarre
there were penis lollipops, lets just leave it at that.
Its Hanami time!
Hey! Its time to look at cherry blossoms! Sakura rules! Hanami is the excellent time of the year when Japanese get drunk under the cherry blossoms!
this bike is awesome
