I’m going to be offering a Kyoto Sakura DVD for sale this spring for the first time. Music composed, performed and licensed by Kevin Macleod.

Watch Kyoto Sakura preview on Vimeo.

[ January 23, 2010; 6:30 pm; ] Get On the Desk Again Party – Benefit for Zinenzele Foundation, helping AIDS orphans.
RAW elements (max, ryotaro & Yung Tsubotaj)
Donation 2000yen, Student with ID 1000yen
open 18:30, live starts around 20:00
at McLoughlin’s Irish Bar
(075) 212 – 6339 (075) 212 – 6339

[ December 11, 2009 5:00 pm to December 20, 2009 8:30 pm. ] The 2009 Hana Touro illumination event will be held evenings from December 11-20. Arashiyama’s main street, including the Togetsukyo Bridge, will be illuminated with lanterns, along with side streets, bamboo forests and temples (excluding Tenryu-ji).

Buddhist monk Hoshino Endo on Sunday became the 50th monk since 1585 to complete the Sen-nichi kaihougyo 1,000-day devotional mountain-circling ordeal on Mt. Hiei straddling Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, earning the title of Dai-Ajari. I live at the bottom of Mt. Hiei and am a registered unofficial member of the support group, since I occasionally came out at 3 a.m. to welcome him down off the mountain in the longer stages, along with the stalwart members who did it every night.

[ October 22, 2009; 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm. ]
Here it comes again, the Kurama Himatsuri is held every October 22 in a tiny mountain village in northern Kyoto. Starting at 6 pm with small kids and small torches, progressively larger torches are paraded up and down this one-street town by teams in traditional costume, as a thumping taiko beat stokes the [...]

[ October 22, 2009; 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm. ] The Jidai Matsuri on October 22 is one of the “Three Big Festivals” of Kyoto, and celebrates the history of Kyoto with a parade of reenactors in costume, on horses, atop wagons, and with all manner of attendants and accoutrements. They depart the old Imperial Palace (called Kyoto Gosho) at noon, but it takes more [...]

[ March 13, 2009 6:00 pm to March 22, 2009 9:30 pm. ] This friday the annual Higashiyama Hana-Touro lantern walk event begins, with nighttime illumination every night until March 22, from 18:00-21:30. Temples will be open for nighttime viewing from Shoren-in in the north down to Kiyomizu-dera. It’s a can’t miss.

At Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto, every year on Girls’ Day (March 3) there is a ceremony where Nagashibina dolls on straw rafts are set afloat on the little stream that runs through the grounds of the shrine. Somehow, this conveys protection on the growing children.

A little look at the fall colors before they come. Scenes that I didn’t show last year. Commenting is now enabled if you have any comments, requests or suggestions.
(Updating site video. these will be back)

Yesterday was the autumnal quinox, and the higanbana bloomed right on time, just about two days ago. I took this video of the higanbana (hurricane lily or spider lily) last year.
(Updating site video. these will be back)

A look at the Daimonji lightup for 2008 from Kitayama Street, the “hou” in “Myouhou”, along with music by accoustic guitar duo Amashin who were performing a garden party show sponsored by flower shop Saijiki.
(Updating site video. these will be back)

Here is a video of one selection from a small concert in Jorenge-ji Temple in Ohara, Kyoto last summer. Urin is scheduled to play tonight near Kyoto Station, but there is a typhoon coming through this evening…