25 August 2012: It was a warm summer night in Tokyo. Most of the shops were closing for the day. My sister and I were walking around the Yanaka neighbourhood after dinner when we saw a flurry of activity down a dimly lit street.
We followed some people into what turned out to be a packed street with a temple at the dead end. Most of the women and girls were dressed in the traditional Japanese dress, looking dainty and elegant in their kimonos.
The air was thick with humidity and barbecue smoke. Stationed along one side of the street, the hawkers were making all sorts of Japanese snacks and street food. For instance, there was okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) drizzled with sweet sauce and topped with katsuobushi (bonito flakes), aonori (dried seaweed) and Japanese mayonnaise.
Screams of delight and gay laughter came from the game stalls. Some children were deep in concentration, hoping to hit the bulls-eye to win a coveted prize or to scoop as many little fish to bring home.
Mostly though, it was the intoxicating aromas from the food stalls that kept drawing us deeper into the street. Never mind that we had just had dinner.
Even though we spoke no Japanese, each transaction was swift: Point at what you want, indicate how many pieces or servings with your fingers, then hand over the money.
The further we went, the hotter it felt and the more crowded it was. People were queuing up to enter a temple. Perhaps to pray for good health, top grades and new job prospects?
What were they celebrating? Did it have something to do with the end of summer?
A brief search on the Internet came up with Koenji Awa Odori (高円寺阿波踊り). Traditionally held on the last Saturday and Sunday of August, this major dance festival marks the end of long summer days with plenty of oomph, fireworks and gaiety.
While there was no dancing when we were there, I’m guessing the evening street bazaar followed the energetic dance performances in the day. If you know the answer, please let me know. Arigatou!
These pictures were taken at ISO 1600 with my Fuji x100 and processed with a Technicolor System4 dye Transfer (Technicolor 3Strip) film simulation.
Angelina Hue 
Great shots. 🙂 It may have been a simple local festival (matsuri / 祭 in Japanese), which is common in the summer. Can’t beat the food and atmosphere.
Good to know!
Wow, that’s a lot of Asahi.. 🙂
And I didn’t have a single drop (at least not that night)!
As usual, excellent photographs…the second photograph of the children scooping fish reminded me of the famous Majid Majidi movie, The Song of Sparrows( I think) 🙂
Just watched the trailer for this movie – looks like something I would like 🙂
It’ll go away with time. To speed it up you can use a spot treatment. Something anti-bacterial is best for the spots under the skin. Tea tree oil is great, or any other natural antib-acterial.
Beautiful photos, full of atmosphere. i specially like the light in the first photo and the colors on the last one. Hmm, I can almost smell the food…
robert
Thanks Robert!
Very nice! I’ve read about the distinctivew colours of the Fuji X_trans sensor cameras… the colours here really pop off the screen, and have a real three-dimensional quality to them. I quite like your compositions, as well: really feel like I’m in the moment!
Thanks Aaron, I think most of these photos were taken on the move as there wasn’t much time to stop and compose 😉
I processed the raw files with Raw Photo Processor using a TC4 film simulation. The Fuji x100 takes great pictures while RPP does an excellent job of processing raw photo files.
Very nice story and excellent imagery ! All are so very Kodachrome, but this last one is like my goal .. Thanks for RPP tip !! Sending you an email soon with details of latest with the X100S – changing workflow thanks to you 😉
Warmest,
i
Thank you! I ran these through the TC4 (Technicolour System4 dye) film simulator on RPP 🙂 I’ve heard many good things about the x100s but can’t bring myself to the money to upgrade from the x100.