Giant Chapstick

courtesy of crazy japanese tv show Lincoln (no, the show has nothing to do with the assassinated president. yes, that is a REAL tube of chapstick. yes, it's weird, even by Japanese standards.)

Hatsu Uma Matsuri

Hatsu Uma is described as a "horse festival" but there was nary a horse at Toyokawa Inari Betsuin Temple. there WERE a bunch of dog statues though:



they place coins on the dog's heads:


and offer small plates of food and alcohol:

Setsubun in Kawasakidaishi

"Demons out! Good luck in!" the people shout as church people throw bags of dried soy beans and candy and crackers from the balcony. traditionally for kids, it seems everryone is getting in on the action these days. witness man's greed for free treats:




the kids in the adjacent day care stared out from the safety of their second floor windows:




the second bean throwing at another temple a few minutes walk away:


this one had roughly 50 people throwing beans to cover a very wide range:



man's insatiable greed scares the crap out of me. i got pelted twice while taking pictures. i guess that means i'm supposed to have good luck this year. we'll have to see how that one plays out.

Winter's first snow

hard to tell from these pix but it's the first snow fall of the winter. it didn't stick for long but it was cold as balls.