Koi pond, rice paddies, and Japanese houses
There is more to Shirakawago than thatched roof houses (gasshozukuri).
TravelJapanBlog.com - Japan (07, 09-10, 13), Denmark (08, 11, 16-19, 21, 24), Korea (13), Poland (21), Mexico (14, 15, 19, 26), Iceland (17, 19), Hawaii (14, 17, 22), Czech Republic (16, 17, 19, 21)
|
The above will search Traveljapanblog.com. Concerts - Landscapes - Sports |
Archive for Japan
Japanese lizard
I spotted this Japanese grass lizard (カナヘビ or Takydromus tachydromoides) on my hike of Mt. Kuratake near Otsuki, Japan. This lizard doesn’t look all that different from lizards I’ve seen in my neck of the woods, except the tail is much longer.
Meguro Waste Incineration Plant
The building in the center may look like a nuclear power plant to the untrained eye, or to someone at Fox News, but it is actually one of Tokyo’s many incinerators. I was able to tour a different one, and the experience has forever changed my world view of garbage.
There aren’t any nuclear power plants in Tokyo. And in case the radiation hysteria has entered your mind as well, know that as of this writing Tokyo still has lower radiation levels than most big cities in the world.
Omotesando (Harajuku) lights
December of 2009 marked the first time in 11 years that holiday lights lined Harajuku’s famous Omotesando. Everyone, and I mean everyone, came to see them. We couldn’t move. It was pretty though and quite festive with the incredible crowds.
Kamakura Autumn
I know. It’s the wrong season for a picture like this, but my random desktop generator came up with this today, and you can’t argue with it. This is a scene from Kencho-Ji in Kamakura in late November.
In 1498 a giant tsunami washed away much of Kamakura, including the building that housed the giant Buddha. Since then the Daibutsu has remained in the open.
Having never visited Natori, or the other cities and towns completely wiped out by the recent tsunami, I imagined Kamakura, where I have been several times, when I saw the photos from the results of the Sendai quake and tsunami. The thought of a place like Kamakura getting hit by a tsunami large enough to reach the Daibutsu is chilling to my core.
Prayers and wishes at the shrine in the snow
Today’s photo is a close up of the ema at Mizu Inari Shrine. A wider view of the same scene can be seen here. Normally I like to browse what people have written. On this cold evening, I took a picture instead to read on my computer screen back in my warm apato.
Some of the prayers/wishes here are for good health, to be fast at math, and to be a good studier. One person wants money. Another wants a home free of sickness, devils (maybe bad luck), and disasters.
Is it impolite to read the wishes of others? I’m not sure.