{"id":338,"date":"2011-11-04T08:19:51","date_gmt":"2011-11-04T08:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/?p=338"},"modified":"2011-11-04T08:19:51","modified_gmt":"2011-11-04T08:19:51","slug":"culture-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/?p=338","title":{"rendered":"Culture Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Yesterday was a national holiday in Japan &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Culture_Day\"><strong>Bunka no hi<\/strong> or <strong>Culture Day<\/strong><\/a>. I spent the afternoon walking around the forest of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Meiji_Shrine\"><strong>Meiji Jingu<\/strong><\/a>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-339\" title=\"MeijiJinguHarajukuEntrance\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/MeijiJinguHarajukuEntrance.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/MeijiJinguHarajukuEntrance.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/MeijiJinguHarajukuEntrance-300x196.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8230;where I was lucky enough to catch an astonishing and beautiful display of <strong>martial arts<\/strong>. There was sword fighting&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-340\" title=\"Swords1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Swords1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"596\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Swords1.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Swords1-300x279.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8230;spear fighting&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-341\" title=\"Spear\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Spear.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"609\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Spear.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Spear-300x285.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8230;and a particularly jaw-dropping display of how even a katana-wielding samurai in full armour can be vulnerable to a well placed blow with this hook-bladed <strong>hatchet<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-342\" title=\"Hatchet\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Hatchet.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Hatchet.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Hatchet-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Hatchet-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">But even more amazing was the demonstration of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Yabusame\"><strong>Yabusame<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; traditional Japanese <strong>archery from horseback<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-353\" title=\"Yabusame1Widescreen\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame1Widescreen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame1Widescreen.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame1Widescreen-300x129.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The participants arrived in ceremonial procession&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-354\" title=\"Yabusame2Widescreen\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame2Widescreen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"323\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame2Widescreen.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame2Widescreen-300x121.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8230;fully decked out in gorgeous period regalia&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-345\" title=\"Yabusame3\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame3.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame3-300x243.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8230;and proceeded to charge past the crowd at full tilt, loosing their arrows at the targets.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-355\" title=\"Yabusame4Widescreen\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame4Widescreen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"378\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame4Widescreen.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame4Widescreen-300x141.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The horse and rider in my pic above are just speed blurs. Imagine how the target must look from the saddle!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">As a <strong>total samurai movie geek<\/strong> I was in absolute heaven.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-347\" title=\"Yabusame6\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"398\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame6.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame6-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">It was an awesome day&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-348\" title=\"Yabusame7\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame7.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Yabusame7-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8230;full of sights I&#8217;ll never forget.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-351\" title=\"SamuraiCam\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/SamuraiCam.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"384\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/SamuraiCam.jpg 384w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/SamuraiCam-180x300.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I was grinning like an idiot for the entire afternoon. ;D<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-352\" title=\"SlackJawedGaijinLoon\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/SlackJawedGaijinLoon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"430\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/SlackJawedGaijinLoon.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/SlackJawedGaijinLoon-300x201.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday was a national holiday in Japan &#8211; Bunka no hi or Culture Day. I spent the afternoon walking around the forest of Meiji Jingu&#8230; &#8230;where I was lucky enough to catch an astonishing and beautiful display of martial arts. There was sword fighting&#8230; &#8230;spear fighting&#8230; &#8230;and a particularly jaw-dropping display of how even a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theycrawl.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}