Bull Festival at Koryuji

The Bull Festival at Koryuji Temple in Kyoto's Uzumasa district — an ancient ceremony in which a bull carries sacred offerings through the temple precinct — is captured by Asano with the combination of careful observation and atmospheric warmth that characterized his festival subjects. The ceremony, among the most ancient surviving Shinto-Buddhist ritual observances in Kyoto, provided him with a subject that unified his interest in sacred architecture, seasonal ceremony, and the living traditions of the old capital. The bull's measured procession through the temple grounds creates a visual subject that is simultaneously humble and deeply charged with religious significance.