tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19587698.post-1156295246274051542006-08-23T08:57:00.000+09:002006-08-23T10:19:55.430+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stardog-champion/222448348/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/84/222448348_9b6bdf7e70_b.jpg" alt="The special tree" width="640" /></a><br /></div><br />Please check out <a href="http://stardog.shutterchance.com">Stardog Photos</a>.<br /><br />Thanks for your comments yesterday. After going back to Photoshop, I played around with Sunday's image a bit and got it to look much better. You can see the results <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=222461762&size=o">here</a>.<br /><br />Now on to today's photo. Like I said in yesterday's post, Shintoists tie <span style="font-style: italic;">shimenawa</span>--sacred ropes with pieces of white rice paper--around anything they consider to be sacred. You can see a small one around this tree, now stripped of its bark and brances.<br /><br />This is actually used in a very unusual ceremony. According to tradition, Shinto shrines are rebuilt every seven yeras. In the case of Suwa Shrine, they do it with style. Part of the celebration of the rebuilding involves giant logs like this.<br /><br />Celebrants carry these logs up to the top of the mountain. The brave--or some might say crazy--men who take part in this festival then sit on these logs as they are slid down the mountainside lenghtwise. The men hang on for dear life (literally) as this giant log weighing 12-13 tonnes crashes its way down to the bottom. My friend Tetsuo tels me that every time this ceremony takes place, at least a few people are seriously injured if not killed.<br /><br />I think I'd rather just watch from a distance with a nice long telephoto lens.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19587698-115629524627405154?l=stardog-champion.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Stardog Championhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15812874779665654966noreply@blogger.com4