Like Father, Like Son

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." - Mark Twain

Procrastination... It's the thorn in my side that I'm slowly beginning to remove. And I'll start here.

If you've been a reader of our blog since May or if you've checked out our May archives recently, you'll recall that my parents came over to Japan for a 3-week visit around that time. My dad and I have a little father/son rivalry when it comes to shooting pictures - he shoots with a 35mm film camera and I shoot digital - but I like to think that I was fortunate enough to inherit his "cameraman's eye" for shooting, so I have always respected the shots that he takes and the photographs he makes, especially since he doesn't have the instant gratification of seeing his pictures immediately pop up in a digital image display window with the option of "delete" or "save". When he shoots, it gets recorded as a 35mm negative, and then *gasp* he has to wait until he's developed the entire roll of film before seeing the results of his work.

The other day, I received an email from my mom that had a link to a Richmond Times Dispatch newspaper article (click the link to see the article and picture). One of my dad's pictures from their trip to Japan had been published. He shot it at the Sanja Matsuri in Tokyo. Congrats, Dad!

My dad's brush with fame inspired me to put a stop to my procrastinating ways. You see, I took a ton of pictures while my folks were in town, but as time went on I slowly let my collection gather digital dust. So this past week, I did a little bit of house cleaning in my picture files. I started with my pictures from the Dosun Festival.

The Dosun Festival is held annually towards the end of May at Araihama-kaigan Beach in Miura City, which is at the tip of the Miura Peninsula, which is named after the Miura Clan. The Miura Clan was famous for the "Kasagake" style of mounted archery, and this event celebrates the history of the Clan and their unique archery traditions. This year, the event was held on Sunday, May 28. I won't begin to describe the event, because I am completely unfamiliar with the traditions and history involved, but the photo opportunities were excellent, so I will let the pictures do the talking.

You can check out the long-overdue photos in our Gallery, dated 08/24/2006 (which reflects today's post date).