Matsuri

Fire festival in Kurama, north of Kyoto.

So. Festivals. A big thing. There are hundreds of the things. They draw huge, huge crowds, and while people will tell you that you should go see one of the things (And I'll reccomend it, because it's unlike anything ive ever seen at home), you will have to endure a lot of discomfort to actually see anything. We left early-ish, and might have got a better view had we gone earlier, but the amount of people forcing their way up this tiny mountain path would make this an unpleasant thing for anyone arriving at any time. As it was, I was unable to fall over on the train as I was held up by an uncountable amount of other bodies. You often had no choice of where you wanted to stand in the crowd, because if it was moving one way, you were going to have to go with it. I got 2 shots I liked, this being one of them. This is about as much as I saw of the tradition. Any more, and I think youtube videos will show you more than you will ever see should you actually go.