Enoshima

One of the best day trips out of Tokyo is to the coast at Enoshima. We've driven, but more fun can be had (avoiding the traffic) by catching the train. We caught the Odakyu Line 'Romance Car' from Shinjuku Station.

First stop, Enoshima Beach. We all had a swim and a relax on the sand.

Next, explore Enoshima Island. We walked across the causeway to the island. Underneath the bridge, people were having BBQs and relaxing in the shade.

On the way there we came across a bunch of bosozoku or bikies. They had super-modified motorbikes with fairings and chopper bars. They also all were modified to be as loud as possible with no mufflers and in some cases loud speakers to amplify the noise - what a racket!!

A loud speaker on the back of this one

Suspension on this one is getting a work-out

Crossing the causeway, we saw lots of jet-skiers having fun.

We eventually got across to Enoshima island. The island is dedicated to the goddess of music and entertainment Benzaiten. At the bottom of the hill are a selection of shops and restaurants selling souvenirs and delicacies.

We strolled past the shops and up the hill. There are a series of shrines and torii on the way up.

This is the Enoshima-Jinja shrine

There are some beautiful gardens on Enoshima.

Thomas tries to get some luck throwing a coin

 There were cats asleep in the garden.

The boys stopped to watch a juggler / acrobat / street performer.

At the top of the island is the Enoshima Lighthouse Observation Tower. It is 60m high and 120m above sea level.

We got some great views from the top of the tower. Enoshima was the harbour for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

We walked down the hill again to the bottom.

A stop at the bottom and time for ice-creams and beer.

We met this fellow who had clearly had enough beer and sunshine for the day.

Time to catch the Odaku Line back to Tokyo 

Everyone was exhausted, but a great day out at the beach at Enoshima.

Matsuri

We've been to see lots of matsuri here in Japan. Local communities carry mikoshi (portable shrines) from their local shrine. Sometimes these are carried the neighbourhood, other times many different ones get together in the same place.

Most of the matsuri occur during the summer from July through to September. 

Tomioka- Hachiman

One of the first we went to see was in the heat, right in the middle of August was at Tomioka-Hachimangu. 

Festival Officials

This is a o-mikoshi. Poles to carry the shrine

The Tomioka-Hachiman festival is dominated by throwing of water at the festival participants.

A fantastic taiko  troupe at this festival.

Shibuya

Each year in Shibuya nine different 'teams' come down and parade. They stop in front of the famous '109' for a greeting by the mayor.

My good friend Tetsuya Uemuta takes part in this matsuri. 

O-mikoshi are carried both by men and women

Tokyo Jidai
This was a parade of historical costumes and uniforms in Asakusa and is one of the most famous and attended festivals.

This festival was filled by people genuinely enthusiastic about representing their history through costume. 
So many fantastic faces I've seen at matsuri. These ones are costume:

These people are carrying the mikoshi. It's heavy and hard work, but everyone has fun.

So many fantastic people and so much to see at matsuri.

I joined the local Oyamacho matsuri. We carried the mikoshi round the neighbourhood. We carried the mikoshi right to our neighbour Suzuki-san front gate and put it down. He had laid on a spread of food, beer and sake. We ate and drank our fill and then set off to continue round. We carried it for two hours on two consecutive nights.

I also took part in the Yoyogi-Hachiman matsuri.

With Mie and Masame

The band!

Heavy, hard work, but fun!!

Ouch!!

This is the leader - he runs a dry-cleaning shop by day.