If you plan to come to Japan one day, you have to understand the concept of matsuri. Matsuri is a Japanese "festival" consisting in gathering the greatest number of food stands a possible ; plus cute girls in yukata ; plus something traditional like dances, songs, contemplation of fireworks or wathever. In summer, you have dozens of matsuri all around Japan. They are most of the time totally packed and you come back home with the smell of takoyaki on your clothes. Actually, there is nothing very funny about matsuri, except the very special feeling to be in Japan for real.

In the case of Mitama Matsuri, the beauty of the lanterns alone justify your presence there. Of course, Yasukuni Jinja is one of the most controversial subject in the Japanese International Relations, because it is dedicated to the people who fought on behalf of the Emperor between 1868 (Opening of Meiji Era) and 1951 (end of the war) - about two million soldiers are honored there, including, unfortunately, some war criminals. The Yushukan Museum, just next to the shrine, is also famous for providing very incomplete information about the war crimes perpetrated by Japan in Asia during WW2. As a result, this beautiful place in Tokyo is considered abroad as a symbol of extreme nationalism and even Japanese imperialism ; and the Japanese people themselves are not in favour of their governement's high-level visits at Yasukuni Jinja anymore. To mak it short, Yasukuni is a touchy subject and sometimes people are surprised you go there, even for an innocent matsuri. Whatever.

But let's go back to the basics : as I said, matsuri is made of

Food Stands

Girls in Yukata

And something traditionnal : shrine and beautiful lanterns

Magic, isn't it ?

The lanterns stand for the souls of the dead soldiers. In the middle of the way, a dancing group performs a simple choregraphy and every one can join the dance.

Mitama Matsuri 2011 / July 13th-July 15th / Yasukuni Jinja, Kudanshita Station / Free entrance

Place Vendome is the symbole of "chic" in Paris. Diamonds, great hotels, artificial lights... and no one around... Who has money enough nowadays to buy the stuff they sall at Place Vendome ? Who is interested in admiring there some expensive pieces of jewellery, when you can see the same ones in any big city in the world or through the Internet ? The Place turned into a bright, dead, meaningless an cold thing - just as a diamond.

Not far from Saint Lazare. Sauvignon wine-based strawberry kir. Waiting for the moment to go to the movie theatre next door, and see an Italian movie. Mother, Father, Sister by my side.

It was a beautiful idea : having a nice China-town between the Seine and Marne rivers in the Eastern boder of Paris, with Chinese restaurants, shops, hotels, cultural activities... It was called Chinagora, and born in 1992. Now, it looks like a ghost city. The project died slowly because it was badly managed by both local and Chinese authorities. It can't be reconverted yet, because of a blocage in the legal process. But if you like Chinese ghosts stories, you can still enjoy the design of the place and imagine the lost souls crying about this huge waste of time, money and energy...

これはチャイナゴラというところです。パリの東で、中国の店やレストランやホテルがあります。面白いアイディーでしたけど、経済計画が悪くなって、今死んだ町の漢字です。誰もいなくて、本当に残念です。お金と時間の無駄だと思います。しかし幽霊の話が好きだったら、完璧な場所です。

This is the most modern part of Paris, usually empty, because it's not in a central area. Bercy Park is the perfect place to read a book or to draw something. A long time ago, it was a place where wine was stocked and it seems that its perfume is still in the air... If you need a nice shot of green, have a sunny walk at Bercy !

ここはベルシーというところです。昔、ワインのストックのところでしたが、今公園になりました。現代的なデザインで、いい天気の時本当にきれいな場所です。そして町の中心ではないので、とても静かです。

From Arthur Rimbaud Alley, you have the National Library on your right, the Simone de Beauvoir Bridge on your right, the Seine River under your feet and the Josphine Baker floating pool in front of you. The area is strangely calm, non-touristic, there are space and wind, a few students are reading on the steps of the library, some couples go to the movie theatre. Nothing moves...

Le pauvre songe

Peut-être un Soir m’attend
Où je boirai tranquille
En quelque vieille Ville,
Et mourrai plus content :
Puisque je suis patient !

Si mon mal se résigne
Si j’ai jamais quelque or,
Choisirai-je le Nord
Ou le Pays des Vignes ? ...
- Ah ! songer est indigne

Puisque c’est pure perte !
Et si je redeviens
Le voyageur ancien,
Jamais l’auberge verte
Ne peut bien m’être ouverte.

When it's sunny in Paris, people have lunch outside and wait for their friends on the steps of the Opera, looking for the shadows of the buildings... We are not that used to hard sunshine in this region !
いい天気の時、パリ人はいつも外で昼ご飯を食べて、外で友達を待って、本当に多様を浴びたいです！

It's a very old castle full of priceless Italian paintings, Egyptian sculptures, Greek statues and French Kings' ghosts. It's a mythic museum, a touristic spot and a gathering place. There is always a smell of mystery in the air when you enter it and see the pyramid. As if the aliens were invading the old castle.

When it's warm like this, you can't prevent yourself to look for the water, even when you're walking in the less natural-looking area of Paris. Thanks God, the Seine River is always here for you !
パリは現在、蒸し暑いです。それでいつも川の近くに歩いてみます。

If you like typical French-style gardens, you will love the Tuileries.
(I tried to teach a Japanese how to say this word properly. Mission impossible. If you are Japanese and you read this post, it's a challenge for you...)
Under the sun, it looks like a giant fry pan (I was there, trust me), but this is the kind of place which was born to show the royal power to the world, and five centuries later, it still smells like the perfume of Catherine de Medicis.

この公園、知っていますか。カタカナで書き方が分かりませんが、スタイルがとてもフランスぽいです。今日パリには本当に暑かったですがこの場所の歴史は興味深いですから素敵な散歩ができました。