Usuki Bamboo Festival

It has been a weekend of exploration for Shawn and I. Yesterday we went to a bamboo festival in Usuki, a town about 40 min to the southeast of us. Usuki is a place with lots of historical significance, there are castle ruins, stone buddhas carved into mountains and a historic street that reminds me of the Japan in Memoirs of a Geisha. Long narrow streets bordered by beautiful traditional Japanese houses. It was awesome.

For the bamboo festival the people had carved designs into huge bamboo reeds and then placed candels inside to create a lantern effect. They lined the streets and winding through these historic homes there were various displays of amazing creativity and art. The lighting was beautiful.

We bought at tripod for the trip so we could photograph the illumination in all it's splendor. Shawn has amazing pics of lots of the displays. I could only catch a handfull of non-blurry pictures. Here they are:

To give you an idea of the construction:













Festivals are an excuse to people to celebrate their traditions and some take the opportunity to wear their kimono. Here are a few girls I wanted to scoop up and take home with me. How adorable are they!?




We also saw women playing the koto, which is a long instrument with strings you pluck...sorry I can't describe it better than that.



It was a really great experience.
We were also able to explore a little around the castle ruins and hang out. I'll leave you with some photos from the rest of the day.






Despite all the festivities and lovely photo-ops, I think I captured the best moments on the train ride home.








Have a great week!