Christmas is over but hot on its heals is a Jesus story in the new copy of the Smithsonian magazine. Inside the January issue is an article accompanied by a couple of my images from a story they sent me on during the summer. This gig was hands down the strangest matsuri (festival) I have attended in Japan. The Christo Matsuri is a celebration upon the alleged burial ground of Jesus Christ. As folklore would have it Jesus of Nazareth settled in the north of Japan with a wife and three kids as a garlic farmer and died at the age of 106. The entirety of the convoluted lore is a humorous read and I wont try to convey it here, grab a copy of the magazine.
The early morning festival itself lasted all of an hour beginning with what appeared to be community awards and culminating in a group of female dancers doing traditional dance around the burial site. After the official ceremony people mill around for snacks and a visit to the one room museum on site and then it is over. As quickly as everyone arrives they pack it up and head down the hill until next year. While the festivities did not yield powerful imagery I thought I would share out of the sheer respect for the kitsch of it all.
