Friendly Friday Challenge – Working Together

These are the days where the individual needs to think about the community and it is starting to be clear that, unfortunately, some societies are better at that than others.

When in Japan, it was obvious of how the collective is important. The streets are immaculately clean but there are no bins anywhere, the underground and train stations are always full but never chaotic, people wait their turn to go into the carriages. It is all about working together for the greater good.

These photos are from Nikko Toshogu Shrine Autumn Festival, where a procession of 1,000 samurai re-enact the burial of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The carrying of the shrine requires team work, where they swap between the front and back positions so everyone has a rest. It was a beautiful insight into another Japanese tradition and cultural trait.