Japanese lady gazes at Kjosfossen Falls from inside a Flåm Railway car

After checking out Kjosfossen waterfall and the huldra from yesterday’s post we got back in our Flåm Railway car to continue down to the fjord. This Japanese woman couldn’t resist a final glance at the falls.

That day, way back in July, was the last chance I had to speak Japanese. I don’t think I’ve spoken to any Japanese people since. I didn’t speak with this lady either actually. Rather, I helped a couple from Japan who were on their honeymoon back in Myrdal get some photos with both of them in the image.

Posted on January 10th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: norway in a nutshell, people. Comments Off on Japanese tourist doing Norway in a Nutshell

Today’s photo is also my random wallpaper of the day on my PC.

Led Zepagain, a Led Zeppelin tribute band, played on the small stage (Sanctuary Stage) at Loud Park 09. There were three stages in all with the main acts switching back and forth on the two main stages. The small stage overlapped the performances on the big stages so I didn’t hang out there much. I caught just a few minutes of Led Zepagain and a few minutes of Dokken, who were playing at the same time on the big stage. Neither band did anything for me so I headed outside to explore instead.

There is, or I should say was, a fun Led Zeppelin cover band to see live, Zepparella. Alas, the all-female Zepparella broke up a few weeks after I saw them so a repeat performance of that fun evening won’t likely happen again.

Posted on January 9th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: concert photography, led zepagain, loudpark. Comments Off on Led Zepagain at Loud Park 2009

One early summer day, we grabbed a guide book and headed to Komae City (狛江市), in the southwest part of Tokyo near the Tama River. As part of the walk, the guidebook had us go through Izumi Shrine (伊豆美神社) to check out the 350+ year old stone torii (鳥居). We were looking for something really impressive so it took us a while to actually find what we came to see.

While the stone torii gate looks impressive from the angle you see above, I was on the ground to take this photo. I’ll have to post a photo of what it looks like from any other vantage point to show you its less than ordinariness in a future entry.

Below is the description, for those who can read Japanese, of this torii gate. I looked at the torii, read the sign, looked at the torii again, and then wondered what all the fuss was about.

The sign basically says that the torii is 2.65 meters (under 9 feet) in height. It was built out of stone in the Edo Period, 1651, and is the oldest one left in the city (no surprise there). There is also a brief bio on the person who donated it, Ishigaya Sadakiyo (石谷貞清), who was apparently a famous warrior/governor.

The most interesting thing, in my opinion, about this torii is the rope (shimenawa) across the front. There are several variations, but typically shimenawa looks something like what you see in the bottom photo in this post. This one had a rare, rigid, straight style (with none of the usual white paper-gohei–hanging off of it) which I haven’t seen before or since.

Posted on January 7th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: shimenawa, signs, torii, water walks in the suburbs of tokyo. Comments Off on 360 year old torii

At a Shinto festival near our apartment in Tokyo, these Japanese boys carried what appears to be a palanquin or litter or kago (駕籠). Palanquin are used for carrying people, though, so I’m not sure if the Japanese actually call this a kago or if there is a different word for it. I believe this one is holding a plant, maybe a young tree. The item being carried in this manner in Shinto parades is referred to as a goshintai or “god body.” Similar to the omikoshi, the goshintai is carried around town on rare occasions (sometimes once a year, sometimes once every few years) before being returned to its place in the Shinto shrine.

On a different topic, notice the address sign on the telephone pole. It says 西早稲田 (NishiWaseda) 3-15 below an advertisement for the company “sponsoring” the pole (a doctor’s office or clinic of some kind down the street). I lived in the 3 Chome of NishiWaseda. It’s easy to get lost in Japanese neighborhoods since there are few street names, the addresses don’t run consecutively, and there is a complete lack of a grid pattern in most neighborhood layouts, but it’s much easier to find out where you are lost in Japan due to the high number of these address displays telling you exactly where you are. The problem is in figuring out how to get from your currently lost Point A to your target location Point B.

Posted on January 6th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: festivals, people, shinto. Comments Off on Carrying the body of god (御神体)

I was thinking about naming today’s entry “The view when you are 6′ 4″ at a concert in Japan,” but that seemed a bit long.

This photo is from Load Park and the band was Arch Enemy. The picture is more of a crowd shot than a band pic though. I like the atmosphere and feeling of it.

I’m planning on seeing many shows in the next five or six months including Amon Amarth (a 2-set show with no opening band, Woo Hoo!) in Portland next month, Floater in Grants Pass, and Robert Wynia in Medford. Most acts don’t make it anywhere near my neck of the woods, though, so this summer I plan to see many in Europe while I’m teaching in Denmark for six weeks. I’m especially looking forward to Mastodon at the Roskilde Festival.

Posted on January 6th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: loudpark, metal. Comments: 2