A night at the Darkness Festival (Kurayami Matsuri) - Tokyo, Japan
We raced from the train station with the thoughts that we have probably missed the festival, until we stepped onto the soaring walkway. We were greeted by the rhythmic dum dum dum of drums not only in our ears but we could feel every percussion through the concrete. We shared a glance and both smiled, they are still here! The darkness festival or Kurayami Matsuri happens during Golden week in Tokyo at Okunitama-jinja every year for the last almost 1000 years, which people carry around mini shrines in the dark. As we rushed towards the sounds we finally saw the massive drums slowly rolling through the streets with several people standing on top of them with lanterns and people below hitting them. I felt transported back in time and yet I stood watching in between the skyscapers. The closer we got the more we were shock to the bones by the music and drums. Along with the humongous drums rolled through the streets around the shrine is the progression of the mini shr...
