I have yet to get past part one in my Suwa Jinja Matsuri series. Someday I’ll return to those pics. Fast forward six months to a neat-sky Sunday in February. I was out for a walk with my camera and decided to visit this Shinto shrine again to see if there were any plum blossoms on the grounds. There weren’t, but the sky made for some good photos anyway.

Normally you approach a shrine from the front, passing under the torii. I came from a park in the back (which is the order of today’s pictures). The kids’ park has been overrun with homeless men. There wasn’t a kid in the place, but there were about a half dozen homeless men hanging out or sleeping in their makeshift, blue-tarp, tent homes.

Ironically, there were boy scouts putting away their own tents on the shrine grounds when I arrived. A chain-link fence was the only thing between the homeless campers and the boy scout campers who were about to head home. I thought it was a strange scene. I wonder if the boy scouts or the homeless dudes felt the same way.

At last I exited, through the normal entrance.

Posted on March 3rd, 2010 under Japan. Tags: clouds, japan pictures, shinto, skywatch, torii. Comments: None

Two weeks ago we set off for Togo Shrine (東郷神社) in Harajuku to check out the flea market. This Tokyo flea market was supposed to take place on the first and fourth Sundays of every month. As we approached we knew something was wrong as the place was nearly empty. A small sign (in Japanese) said the flea market had been discontinued as of the beginning of 2010.

As we were leaving, though, we spotted this wedding party.

Mom, or perhaps mother-in-law, had some last pieces of advice for the bride.

They made their way up the stairs and into Togo Jinja…

…where their wedding took place moments later.

Posted on February 21st, 2010 under Japan. Tags: harajuku, shinto, wedding. Comments: 5

Everything looks better, fresher with a coating of new snow. This includes the Toshogu Pagoda in Nikko and the stone lantern in front of it.

Or even just the stores in front of the Tobu Nikko train station.

On our first day in Nikko the snow became even fresher as it began to fall from the sky while we were at Futarasan Shrine (二荒山神社).

Posted on February 14th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: nikko, pagoda, shinto. Comments: None

Near Waseda University, Anahachimangu (穴八幡宮) can be found. The place was being refurbished when we arrived in August, but they finished in time for New Years. Loads of lucky charms could be, and were, purchased during January. You should also bring back your talisman from the prior year and pay the shrine (again, this time) to destroy it for you. How is that for clever marketing?

Posted on February 8th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, lanterns, night photography, shinto, torii. Comments: None