Midnight Fox Parade
Middle school boys in foxface and golden skirt-pants carrying gigantic fox heads through the streets of Tokyo? Can you think of a better way to ring in the new year?
Every December 31st at midnight, the good citizens of Oji gather at the local inari shrine to show the furry-tailed messengers of the gods a good time. Like all Shinto festivals, this one features copious amounts of sake (in this case, they’re ladling out the hot, sweet, so-unfiltered-you-nearly-have-to-chew-it brew called amazake), flutes & drums, and people dressed in period costume and sneakers. But that’s just for starters!
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly newsletter Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Categories
Animals, Awesome Stuff To Do, Cute to the nth, Seasonal Goodness, Traditional Stuff I Love
Jonelle Patrick View All
Writing mystery books set in Tokyo is mostly what I do, but I also blog about the odd stuff I see every day in Japan. I'm a graduate of Stanford University and the Sendagaya Japanese Institute in Tokyo, and a member of the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. When I'm not in Tokyo, I live in San Francisco. I also host a travel site called The Tokyo Guide I Wish I'd Had, so if you're headed to Japan and want to check out the places I take my friends when they're in town, take a look!
I love fox masks! the fox make up is really cute too! I’ll try it for a halloween ^^
That is actually a great idea! Since we won’t be going to any of the same parties, maybe nobody will guess I’m copying you! ^^;;
haha!! let’s do that and you send me a photo, I’ll do the same. It won’t match the lovely bat shaped glasses that I bought in Tokyo though …. I left Japan on the 31st this year and arrived in Paris too tired to do anything so I missed halloween snif!!!
Love this!