Rhythm

How about a dance celebration to end the summer? Japan, especially in Tokyo, do that annually. Every last Saturday of August, people gather at Asakusa to be a part of the yearly Samba Festival. The past years, everyone handled the 33 deg C temperature but for this year, an uninvited guest arrived – the rain.

When Boredom Strikes

 ask the wind to sing
a song of childhood
give a tune to unlimited yawns
a capella

 invite the trees to dance
like the ones in  high school proms
waltz with the weeds
cotillion

 summon the rain
not the snow
to wash away the wrinkles
 of a tired spirit
in deep slumber
bravo

 relive the performances
 of life in a puddle
give each one
a standing O

 /totomai

I think I have been taking photos of the event since 2008 without fail. I may be wrong though. And despite of being at the festival every year, the dedication of the participants still surprises me, especially the children who also didn’t care if it’s raining or not. As they say, teach them while they are young.

Honestly though, I am more worried for those who wear elaborate costumes because of the rain. I can’t imagine the weight they have to carry while maintaining the smiles on their faces.

This is one of the more colorful festivals in Japan and a must-see one. Even color blinds will be able to distinguish the hues flashing before them. Of course, the photographers don’t know where to shoot as everything is fast-paced.

Samba Festival won’t be a samba festival without the revealing outfits. I hope the dancers didn’t catch a cold after.

As long as there’s music. The hips will continue to shake. Until next year.

Sorry for the photo overload, but I took more than 1,000 shots in 5 hours and it was difficult to choose which one to include on this post.

/totomai
2015/09/09

Photos taken with Nikon D7000, 
lenses used : 
                Nikkor 18-300mm 3.5f