Kiku Festival

On our free Friday afternoon Kristen, Melissa and I went to a Chrysanthemum festival in a town in the mountains with a lady Kristen knows and her adorable daughter. Chrysanthemum is Kiku in Japanese which just happens to be Kristen's middle name because the flower blooms in November, when the world was graced with her presence! Enough posturing, I'm not really a flower person..well maybe orchids and some lilies but other than that they are not my thing. I was not attending the festival to observe the rare and beautiful award winning kiku. In fact I did not remember what the festival was for until we got there. So, I was lucky that the temple complex, where the festival was held, was absolutely beautiful. It is the largest temple I have been to thus far and the architecture was very impressive . The brilliantly coloured leaves on the trees and the ground and the dreary day added a mystic quality to the setting.

Torii gates are typical of shrines in Japan and mark the transition from the sacred to the profane. Most of the small shrines in my town have relatively small torii gates and they are generally a drab colour. While driving along the highway to get to the festival we drove under a massive torii gate. This one is much small than the mammoth gate but still much more intricate and imposing than what I have seen so far.

Small temple near the entrance.

Melissa doing what Melissa does best, besides drink. She is an amazing photographer but I am always afraid of losing her because she takes so many pictures. Luckily she only brought three cameras to this festival!

Gate to the inner temple.

Kristen and Saya, a very cute and precocious child who was hyped up on cotton candy.

I figured I should get one picture of the flowers and this plant was pretty extraordinary.

A girl in traditional hakama pants.