An alternative guide to Japan

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Fushimi Hakuseki Inari, 50 Torii Under the Hydrangeas

In a valley of Yokosuka, more than fifty torii climb between cedars and hydrangeas. Fushimi Hakuseki Inari is the wild cousin of Kyoto's great shrine: damper, lonelier, almost absorbed by the mountain.

Urban Exploration

We slip through Japan’s forgotten corridors; silent rooftops, rusted tunnels, and cities paused in time.

@jordymeow

@jordymeow

This week in Japan

282 festivals and events, Nov 9 to Nov 15

Mon 9 Nov Illumination Now Kingonji's giant ginkgo lit at night Okuizumo, Shimane · until Nov 14 A 600-year-old ginkgo blazes gold against the black night of Okuizumo, alone above the harvested fields. Mon 9 Nov Exhibition Now Sennyu-ji Four Seasons Fusuma Kyoto (Higashiyama), Kyoto · until Nov 15 For ten days only, the imperial family temple shows a cycle of 42 painted doors of the four seasons. Mon 9 Nov Matsuri Now Gion Odori Kyoto (Gion), Kyoto · until Nov 10 The only geiko and maiko dance show Kyoto stages in autumn, put on by the small Gion Higashi district. Mon 9 Nov Illumination Now Shizutani School Light-up Bizen, Okayama · until Nov 15 Japan's oldest school for commoners, roofed in Bizen tiles, is lit at night with its two flame-red kai trees. Mon 9 Nov Art festival Last day Art Collaboration Kyoto Kyoto (Sakyo, Takaragaike), Kyoto Kyoto's contemporary art fair, held inside a brutalist masterpiece of a conference hall. Tue 10 Nov Matsuri Soon Tenson Korin Sacred Fire Festival Kirishima, Kagoshima A sacred fire is lit at the foot of Mt Takachiho, where Amaterasu's grandson is said to have come down from heaven. Thu 12 Nov Matsuri Soon Tanadui, Taketomi seed-sowing festival Taketomi, Okinawa · until Nov 13 For two days Taketomi offers its gods about eighty dances and plays, from morning until night. Fri 13 Nov Matsuri Soon Jion-e Night Debate Nara, Nara At night, monks duel in chanted questions and answers on doctrine, a thousand-year-old public examination. Fri 13 Nov Matsuri Soon Lacquer Festival at Horin-ji Kyoto (Nishikyo, Arashiyama), Kyoto Kyoto's lacquer artisans climb to this Arashiyama temple to thank the Buddha said to have revealed their craft. Fri 13 Nov Event Soon Kuzuryu Shrine Monthly Rite Hakone, Kanagawa On the 13th of each month a boat takes pilgrims to the shrine of the nine-headed dragon on the shore of Lake Ashi.

+272 more festivals and shows this week All on the app’s map, day by day. iPhone Android

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Dates estimated from past years: check the official site before you go.

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