For the past few years, I've been photographing various events for the annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district as a volunteer photographer. As a fan of Japanese culture, this is one of the highlights of the year.

The photos that I'm sharing are from the Nisei Week Grand Parade. I was shooting with my K-5 IIs + Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 APO EX DG OS and K-3 Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG Macro.






















You can find the rest of my photos from this event in this set album. Thanks for looking!

[Mallee Boy]

Good work, they tell a story.

[RobG]

Nice! Looks like they're connecting it with the Bon festivals in Japan.

[mamba909]

Thanks, Mallee Boy!

Well, Rob, the first Nisei Week Japanese Festival was held around mid-August, so I think they're just sticking with tradition. However, the local Buddhist temples and Japanese American community centers do hold obon festivals. They're usually scheduled out from the third weekend of June 'til the first weekend of August, with each temple or community center holding a festival on specific weekends. It's really fun especially if you're into bon odori!

Oh, and the cool thing about the Nisei Week Japanese Festival is that in recent years, it has presented a local Tanabata festival and the Grand Parade has featured a Nebuta float and a Yosakoi Soran dance troupe.