running messages, wagtail
for the shrine's god?
irises
鶺鴒は神の使かかきつばた
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1810.
Trans. David G. Lanoue.
the long skinny snake's
Shinto shrine...
irises
細長い蛇の社や杜若
-1818.
After the shock of losing both the emperor and its status as capital in 1868, Kyōto embarked on a series of prestige projects to help revive trade, tourism and its damaged ego.
Heian Jingū, the Lake Biwa Canal, the geisha dances and the Jidai Matsuri were all born at this time.