1250 Year Old Spring Festival

The Omizutori (Water-drawing Ceremony) heralding the arrival of spring, began March 1 at Todaiji Temple (UNESCO World Heritage Site)in the ancient city of Nara. Monks carrying blazing torches walked up the balcony of Nigatsudo Hall, lightening up the evening sky. This annual ceremony began in 752 AD, and it will be the 1250th time this year. Todaiji Temple is also famous for the huge Buddha statue.

Junior high school and high school students in Tokyo usually go to Kyoto and Nara for their school trips. I went when I was in junior high school. At Todaiji next to the Buddha statue, there was a pillar with a hole which was supposed to be the same size as the statue's nostrils...We went through it, and imagined how big the whole thing is.