The Roving Ronin Report

Setsubun is a Japanese Spring Ritual where Japanese drive away bad luck and evil. At a small shrine in Matsuyama, Shikoku they perform a sacred dance known as kagura which depicts an old legend of Susanoo no Mikoto the Japanese god of Storms fighting a giant evil serpent Yamata no Orochi. Susanoo no Mikoto is the Japanese god of storms and is known as the Impetus Male for his erratic behavior. He caused great distress on the Heavenly Plains by causing his sister, Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess to flee into a cave thus plunging all into darkness. The other gods were able to get Amaterasu out of the cave and bring sunlight back. The gods decided to exile the troublesome Susanoo to the underworld of the dead Yomi. On his way to Yomi, Susanoo encountered two earthy deities who were in distress. A great 8-headed serpent known as Yamata no Orochi devoured their daughters and he was returning to consume their last one. Susanoo decided to save their daughter. In the kagura ve...

Tokyo Design Festa May 2008 The Tokyo Design Festa is a semi-annual event where artists, craftsmen, performers, musicians, film-makers, and what-not gather from all over the world to exhibit their creations. It's a weekend of artistic chaos! Ghostly Lady from Tokyo Design Festa Here's a little avant-garde weirdness from Tokyo Design Festa. She's from Taiwan and was one of the performers at the Design Festa Drumming Rabbits - Usagi Taiko Group This footage is from the Tokyo Design Festa of the female Taiko Drum Group known as Usagi. Usagi means rabbit in Japanese. http://usagi-8.com Crazy Angel Company Here's a bit of a big band I caught at Tokyo Design Festa called Crazy Angel Company. They have a lot of energy and it shows in their performance. http://www.crazy-angel.com Scenes from Three Bands from Tokyo Design Festa Here's a small slice of the music scene in Tokyo. This vid is brief snippets of three bands I caught at Tokyo Design Festa. Mimi-Unagi http://mimiuna...

The Kamogawa Odori Geisha Dance The spring dances of Kyoto offer a rare glimpse of Geisha performances A young Maiko (Geisha Apprentice) performing in the Kamogawa Odori True geisha dance performances are rare events that one can only witness if they are part of the affluent clientele of Kyoto’s elusive Geisha tea houses or if they are fortunate enough to procure a seat at one of the annual public performances given in Spring and Fall. Spring dances are traditional events held every year to celebrate the ending of winter. Most of the year, the general public only has the chance to occasionally spy geisha as they scurry along the streets of Gion and Pontocho to their assignments. These spring dances represent a chance for the public to see the geisha in all their glory performing ancient traditional dances. Before the performance guests may observe a tea ceremony The Kamogawa Odori is a geisha dance performance presented in the late spring in the Pontocho district of Kyoto. Pontocho is ...