I seem to have come across a snake meeting.

EDIT: @mizuosemla informs me in the comments that these are not snakes, but are Japanese bullfinches, called uso (鷽). They do look more like birds than snakes. I somehow got it into my head that they were stylized snakes. haha oops! Thank you @mizuosemla!

Snakes don't have the evil and sinister feeling that they have in the West, where they have long suffered from their main role in the myth of Adam and Eve.

In Japanese mythology they are usually female or at least have feminine qualities. They are symbols of eternal youth due to their ability to shed their skin, an ability that was considered magical in the not-so-distant past. They are viewed as clever due to their ability to worm into places other animals can't.

I'm not sure why exactly there are so many at this shrine. But I didn't stop to explore or ask, just snapped a few photos and moved on

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.

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