Yesterday Mark and I joined Robyn and Jayne to go and view the lantern festival. We originally we met Justin and his wife, Nana. Justin's parents had arrived the night before so they were all heading home to rest up for their trip to the mountains.
Each October Hakata streets are illuminated with thousands of paper lanterns. We began at Kushida Shrine and strolled through the many narrow side streets to see small and large creative lantern formations.
I can't tell you which location had which lanterns for all of the photos, some I remembered and some I did not. The locations we did visit were: Kushida Shrine, Hakata Elementary School, Hakata-Koutougakuen, Shofukuji Temple, Jotenji Temple, Tochiji Temple, Hakata Ekimae Hiroba, Fujita Koen, Bayside Place Hakata area and the Hakata Riverain.
We all had a great time walking up and down the streets and then viewing the lanterns. The designs were very large and in a couple of locations we were able to go to a second floor area to take photos of the designs. Mark and Robyn stayed below while Jayne and I braved the crowds. I had to get the photos of the designs so that I would be able to share them with all of you. It was well worth it!
The weather was perfect for our evening outing. Later this week Mark and I will be venturing out to the temples and shrines to see what they look like in the daylight. We had never been to any of the places we went to last night. I am looking forward to seeing more of them.
Enjoy the photos. It was a great time with great friends!
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| The path through a garden area. |
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| Garden path |
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| Lighting the way on the street. |
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| Festive lanterns |
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| Near the exit of the school. |
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| Cat lanterns |
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| Contest lantern |
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| Contest lantern |
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| Contest lantern |
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| Contest lantern |
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| Contest lantern |
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| Contest lantern view 1 |
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| Contest lantern view 2 |
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| Contest lantern view 3 |
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| Contest lantern |
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| Contest lantern |
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| Garden lantern display |
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| Garden lanterns |
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| flower lantern |
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| Frog lantern |
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| Inside the shrine |
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| Japanese characters |
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| Entry way to the first stop on our evening of viewing the lanterns. |
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| Ground level |
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| Street displays |
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| Street displays |
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| Ground view |
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| walkeay |
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| Ground view |
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| Ground view |
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| ground view |
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| Lanterns |
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| Lanterns guiding the way. |
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| Lanterns |
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| View from above...stunning! |
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| Another view from above...it is a geisha. |
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| The lower part of the geisha. |
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| Buddha? |
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| Live music |
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| Zen garden area |
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| Look at the orchids. |
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| I need to get me some of these for the apartment. |
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| Panda lantern |
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| Handmade lantern |
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| Plant store |
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| Lanterns in a garden area. |
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| Pumpkin lanterns in a shopping area. |
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| Shopping area |
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There are stores all along this area.
Mark and I are going back this week to take a good look. |
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| A shrine |
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| Outside of the shrine/temple |
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| One of the statues at the shrine/temple. |
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| Along the street. |
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| An old traditional Japanese house. |
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| In the zen garden. |
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