風鈴 祭り (Wind Chime Festival) - Part 1

Summer is festival season in Japan. There isn't a day that goes by without some event, local or large, being held. I often check various Kanagawa websites in search of some interesting festivals. It was this unique one -- a wind chime festival -- that I hurried off to in between my working hours.

The festival was located in Kawasaki Daishi -- a temple town famous for Daruma dolls. The doll's head is slightly round, with two white eyes. People make a wish and paint one eye black. When their wish comes true, they color in the other eye. Many shops lined the route to the temple, filled with these daruma dolls:

Kawasaki Daishi is also famous for old fashioned, hand made candy. The street directly in front of the temple was lined on either side with confectionary shops, each one displaying how they make the candy. I took numerous photos...

Candy street:

A confectionary artist stretches the taffy like candy...

Then chops it up to a unique rhythm, by hitting his knife against a wooden board. His partner, also tapping a knife on the board, providing a drum-like harmony:

Tearing myself away from all that candy (including many free samples) was tough, but I finally made it to the temple grounds. As this was a festival, I saw several young women in ゆかた (yu-ka-ta = summer kimono). This style of kimono can be seen at summer festivals in Japan:

The temple gate was enormous. It's interesting to see such a traditional structure in a factory town. (Kawasaki is home to many large factories):

After praying inside the temple, it was time to enjoy the festival! The area was quite crowded...

...but lucky me! I'm quite small and compact, so I could weave my way through the crowds and into the main viewing area. The very first wind chime I came across was a mini version of a Daruma doll.

Very cute!

The viewing area had been divided into booths. Each booth contained wind chimes from the various prefectures in Japan. It was fun to walk through and see the unique chimes created in Japan.

This booth contained traditional images in Japan -- a mosquito coil burner (foreground - the pig), a watermelon, a lucky cat (Used in businesses in Japan. The outstretched paw is to attract customers and their money):

These wind chimes were made of copper and metal. Their look resembled traditional Japanese garden lanterns:

There are more photos from this festival to share. Please check in again tomorrow for more.

Kawasaki Daishi Temple is located HERE. A visit to the temple and candy street is highly recommended, especially if you have children. Shop owners give out lots of free samples and your kids will enjoy watching how the candy is made. This festival is held every year, in July. The dates for this year's festival was: July 18 ~ 22, 2012.