Jidai Matsuri Participants, Kyoto, 2018

The Jidai Matsuri is one of the three festivals of importance in Kyoto, Japan. It occurs on October 22nd. The seriousness of all the participants in their reenactment of the ages of the history of Japan astounded me and their playfulness too and welcoming smiles made their portraits special. I discovered that the time to capture this mixture of playfulness and seriousness was in the 3 hours before the start of the parade. The participants assemble, get ready, eat some lunch and pose for the camera toting crowds.