Yayoi Festival, Nikko, Japan 17 Apr 2010
17 Apr 2010
Yayoi is an ancient religious festival which originates in the eighth century (‘Yayoi’ meant the month of March in the traditional Japanese calendar). The final day of the festival includes 13 portable shrines from the surrounding villages. Although Nikko is a truly national shrine (as the last resting place of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun) and has its position in the world as a UN world heritage site, one of the touching features of the Yayoi festival is the total involvement of local people.