Recent Comments

@Tim Shaw: Thank you, Tim. I love how beautiful design is integrated into all aspects of Japanese tobacco culture. Pipes, tobacco pouches and ashtrays may have been introduced from abroad, but the Japanese did something very special with what they were handed. It is amazingly elegant and unique.

@Ted Taylor: Yes, I loved watching that when I still lived in the Kansai.

Thankfully, the custom has not completely vanished. I have seen the occasional kite at a park during the first few days of New Year, and the Kota Takoage Matsuri in Aichi Prefecture still celebrates the custom (although cancelled several years in a row now).

There is also the Hamamatsu kite-flying battle. But it is during Golden Week…

Maybe there are more kite festivals that I am not aware of?

@Glennis: Thank you so much. I am glad you like this article. I love how these photo books by Takagi show a topic from many angles.

Allow me to add one more Japanese New Year custom to this article. Before January 1, the term Yoi o toshi o (良いお年を) is used, and then Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu (明けましておめでとうございます) to wish Happy New Year.

@Glennis: How cool! I didn’t realize these were also made in the U.S. Interesting.

I just had a look at the photo of the senninbari on your blog. It is a beauty.

@Matthew Hall: Thank you, Matthew. I seem to recall I have seen elevation drawings. Unfortunately none in my collection yet. I will keep my eyes open!

@Noel: Thank you for sharing. Yes, that is a great site isn’t it!

I found it very helpful for a study I wasn commissioned to do by the Netherlands Embassy in Japan last year.

@Tim Hornyak: Glad you liked it, Tim. Sometimes I am surprised about the images I find in my own collection! All of these work so well together to get this story across. And sometimes art tells a story better than a photograph. I especially like the ukiyoe from 1937 showing the two women doing senninbari. Purchased it specifically for this story, all the other images were already in my collection.

@Glennis A Dolce: Thank you so much for the kind words. NHK did a documentary on the movie. I have tried to find it on YouTube, but no luck so far…

@Noel: Thank you. That is a great book. Will try to find an original copy. The salesperson mentioned in this explanation often comes up. He apparently shouted three words in a row very similar to the three characters in the game. But historians now say it is not clear if Tohachi really came from a person by that name, or whether such a person even existed.

@Noel: That is so kind of you to say. Thank you very much. I really enjoy delving deep into the histories of the customs and traditions shown in these images.