Jidai Matsuri
​​​archive photos by Paola Ghirotti
Text: Franco Fusco, Yasue Hori

In 1990, when coming back from the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix that took place at Sukuza the 21st of October, I decided to spend the night in Kyoto to discover what the day after would be an important festival: The Jidai Matsuri.

The festival celebrates the anniversary of the founding of the antique capital of Kyoto, Heian-kyo, ‘The City of Peace and Tranquility’. It was celebrated from the time it was founded by Emperor Kanmu on the 22nd of October in 794 until the year 1868.

This series of rituality I had decided to document around the dates I found myself in Japan. In the meantime 30 years passed by.

The early images are produced using Fuji Film Velvia 50 and 100, Kodachrome film 25. Others from these earlier images are formatted in 120 mm realized with a Hasselblad SWC, always using Fuji Film.

Since 2009 I alternate using analogue cameras and digital cameras.