The annual Kawasaki Halloween Parade this year was held on October 31st. It is said to be one of the biggest Halloween parades in Japan. It was my second time to see the parade and I’m still quite impressed with the participants. Their costumes were amazing. They can be described as either ‘kawaii’ or ‘kowai’.

In Japan, ‘kawaii’ means ‘cute’, and ‘kowai’ is ’scary’. (Be careful when you try to use them. You don’t want to get yourself embarrassed after mistakenly saying ‘kowai’ to a cute little Japanese kid, instead of saying ‘kawaii’).

More ‘kawaii’ and ‘kowai’ photos here.

Photo: Bidders inspect the frozen tunas before the auction starts.

Background: Tsukiji fish market (Japanese: 築地市場, Tsukiji shijō) is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. The market is located in Tsukiji in central Tokyo, and is a major attraction for foreign visitors (few Japanese casually visit the market).

The auctions start around 5:20 a.m. Bidding can only be done by licensed participants. These bidders include intermediate wholesalers [nakaoroshi gyousha] who operate stalls within the marketplace, and other licensed buyers who are agents for restaurants, food processing companies, and large retailers.

The auctions usually end around 7:00 a.m. Afterwards, the purchased fish is either loaded onto trucks to be shipped to the next destination, or on small carts and moved to the many shops located inside of the market. There the shop owners cut and prepare the products for retail. (Wikipedia)

A guy wearing a scary Geisha costume during the Kawasaki Halloween Parade last year (2008). This year’s event will be on October 31st.

The most active photography club in Tokyo, FTPS (Flickr Tokyo Photo Session) is going to have a photo meet on this day in Kawasaki. For details, please visit the discussion here.

Photo: Movie posters are shown just outside a small theater in Shinbashi.

Background: In Japan, under Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan people who sell or distribute obscene materials can be punished by fines or imprisonment. Article 175 was included in the original document in 1907 and remains relatively unchanged]. Finding a workable definition for obscene has sparked much controversy over the last century. It is not uncommon for pictorial magazines to depict nude women with their genitalia airbrushed over in black, and video pornography routinely depicts explicit sex scenes with the participants’ genitalia obscured by mosaics. Until the 1990s, the entire pubic region, including hair, was deemed obscene and unpublishable.

In 2007, the police have started to prosecute webmasters who allow uncensored pictures on their sites. Recent controversies have permitted both pubic hair and even genitalia itself being displayed in works of art and in educational settings. (Wikipedia)

Ema (絵馬) are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshipers write their prayers or wishes. The ema are then left hanging up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) supposedly read them. They tend to be fairly uniform in size and shape, but many have different pictures painted on them, of animals or other Shinto imagery, and they often have the word gan’i (願意), meaning “wish”;, written along the side. Stereotypically, the image on the plaque would be of a horse, uma or ma in Japanese (馬); ema means, literally, “horse picture”;.　This name originates from the fact that real horses were once offered by the wealthy in exchange for blessings at shrines. (Wikipedia)

The official temple name for Sensoji Temple is Kinryuzan (Mountain of Golden Dragon) and this name comes from a tale about a golden dragon. According to the legend, 1000 pine trees suddenly appeared overnight near the temple on the 18th day of March. After three days, a golden dragon measuring 100 shaku (approx. 30 meters) descended into the pine trees from the heavens and was never seen again. The Golden Dragon Dance is based on this story. It was first presented in October 1958 to celebrate the opening of Showa Hall of the temple by the Asakusa Kannon Association as a commemorative event to be passed on to future generations. The dance is held on March 18 when the temple’s sacred image is unveiled for public viewing and on October 18, an auspicious day for the Kiku-kuyo (Memorial Service for Chrysanthemums).

Taken during the Kinryu-no-mai (Golden Dragon Dance) held at the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa

Bowing (ojigi) is a very important custom in Japan. Japanese people bow all the time. Most commonly, they greet each other by bowing instead of handshaking. It is impolite not to return a bow to whoever bowed to you. Japanese people tend to become uncomfortable with any physical forms of contact. But, they became used to shaking hands with westerners.

Bowing has many functions in one. It expresses the feeling of respect, thanking, apologizing, greeting, and so on. It’s a convenient and important custom for you to learn. You can bow, when you say, “Thank you”, “Sorry”, “Hello”, “Good bye”, “Congratulations”, “Excuse me”, “Good night”, “Good Morning”, and more!!

Text source: gojapan.about.com

At some temples, visitors burn incense (osenko) in large incense burners. Purchase a bundle, light them, let them burn for a few seconds and then extinguish the flame by waving your hand rather than by blowing it out. Finally, put the incense into the incense burner and fan some smoke towards yourself as the smoke is believed to have healing power. For example, fan some smoke towards your shoulder if you have an injured shoulder. (Japan-Guide.com)

Gyaru (ギャル, Gyaru) is a Japanese transliteration of the English word gal. The name originated from a 1970s brand of jeans called "gals", with the advertising slogan: "I can’t live without men", and was applied to fashion- and peer-conscious girls in their teens and early twenties. Its usage peaked in the 1980s and has gradually declined. The term gradually drifted to apply to a younger group, whose seeming lack of interest in work or marriage gained the word a "childish" image. It is now used almost interchangeably with kogyaru and younger generations may consider it clichéd or even archaic. (Wikipedia)

Omikuji or literally the  ’sacred lottery’  are usually received by pulling one out randomly from a box that one shakes, hoping for the resulting fortune to be good. The omikuji falls out of a small hole, scrolled up. (Nowadays, these are sometimes coin-slot machines.) Unrolling the piece of paper reveals the fortune written on it. When the prediction is bad, it is a custom to fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree or to an ad hoc scaffold. (Wikipedia)