Sichigosan & a Wedding

Yoyogi Park near Harajuku St., in Shibuya was a blessing in twos for us today.

First, we were able to see and take pictures of Japanese children aged 3, 5 and 7 in their traditional Japanese formal wears and some in Western style clothes as well. The Sichi-Go-San Festival, which literally means "seven-five-three", is celebrated on the 15th of November for boys turning three and five, and for girls turning three and seven.

Oh my delight at seeing little girls wearing kimonos complete with hair ornaments and little boys wearing their haori jackets and hakama pants. What a blessing indeed!

A three year old girl wearing a beautiful dress of purple and pink flowers.

A three (3) year old boy in Western style formal wear with Mom.

It really was not that hot as the wind was blowing chilly air...but the sun was up and happy today!

Brother and sister heading up to the temple.

Now the girl here just turned seven (7) because at seven years of age, a girl could now wear an Obi. Did you notice the difference between the three year old's dress and this one's?

Mom and daughter both in traditional Japanese formal attire -- a lovely kimono! :)

Now I remember this girl as a head turner! We saw her and her family pass by in front of us earlier when we were resting in front of the Adidas store on the way to Yoyogi Park, and now here. D has a better photo than I do but I just want to show you their elaborate hair ornaments. Her older sister is equally stunning. Her features suggest that she's not pure Japanese or not Japanese at all, as we also saw boys and girls of different nationalities celebrating the festival.

At the entrance of the shrine, there were stalls lining up the side of the road and the biggest, most beautiful Chrysanthemums were on display. The flowers were so lovely, they were as big as my head, probably. Some bonsai plants were on display as well but the Chrysanthemums stole the show.

Finally we reached the temple, and man, was it packed! Even Monchichi was there entertaining the kids. Cameras everywhere! It's quite possible that there were more cameras than balloons at the Meiji temple grounds.

Oh no! Bye bye balloon!

I will then give the space to D's traditional Japanese Wedding photos...

I always hoped I could chance upon this event when i started planning our Japan trip -- we were able to witness and shoot part of a traditional japanese wedding! Wooohoo!

[Posted with iBlogger from iPhone]