Cut Paper

The second weekend in February, every other year, there is a special festival in Ume, which is in Saiki, Oita Prefecture, Japan.

The history of this festival is old - over 400 years, people in this mining village in the mountains have been using ashes to paint each others faces, with a daikon radish for the brush. It is a festival for health and prosperity in the rural countryside. 

You know I like all sorts of Japanese crafts, right? I mean, obviously.

Well, I just love seeing these pieces of thin tissue paper cut up to hang in amazing ways. During the festival, the light cut through the trees just perfectly and lit up this part of a huge ... I have no idea what it's called in Japanese, honestly. It's like a banner for the shrine that this festival was associated with. And I don't even know what the paper things are called... I'm a terrible person. But, suffice to say, I love getting pictures of it, and I adore the way the light hit this one!

© サマンサ　リミュー

© Samantha Lemieux

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