LOVE JAPAN

SAKURA 2010

2010-04-11T15:26:00.004+09:00

Atmosphere of happyness under the cherry blossoms...

Camera : Canon EOS40D

SAKURA 2010

2010-04-08T00:59:00.000+09:00

Cherry blossom in Japan is not only a matter of flowers, but also an occasion to enjoy healthy and typical finger food :0)

Camera : Canon EOS 40D

SAKURA 2010

2010-04-04T18:44:00.003+09:00

Seasonal shot...

Camera : Canon EOS40D

FUJI-SAN

2010-01-25T23:00:00.003+09:00

Just the hat of Fuji-san...

JAPANESE GARDEN

2010-01-21T00:15:00.003+09:00

A personnal vue on my garden in Tokyo, few years ago... I was not drunk... if I do remember...

Camera : can't remember :)

HASE TEMPLE I

2010-01-19T20:32:00.007+09:00

Recently I went to Hase Temple located in Kamakura for a walk with my kids. This temple is famous for its Kannon statue (8th century) made in a single piece of camphor. A famous legend (I will let you browse the web for details) is stuck to this statue of 9 meters, the tallest wooden image of the holy Kannon deity in Japan.
All around the temple, visitors will discover about 1000 small Jizo statues (guardian deity of children). It is said that more than 50,000 Jizo statues have been offered to the temple since worl war II. The Jizo statues represent the souls of of miscarried, stillborn or aborted aborted children...

Camera : Canon EOS40D

DAIBUTSU III

2010-01-14T00:57:00.003+09:00

A last image of the Kamakura Buddha showing how tall he is :)

Camera: Canon EOS40D

DAIBUTSU II

2010-01-11T20:14:00.003+09:00

Just a close-up on the Kamakura giant Buddha...

Camera : Canon EOS40D

DAIBUTSU I

2010-01-03T18:53:00.004+09:00

The Kamakura Daibutsu, the main deity of the Kotoku-In Temple, is a Japanese National Treasure. His construction is dated 1252. He is 11.3 m tall and weighs 121 tons.

Camera: Canon EOS40D

SENGAKUJI - III

2009-11-22T16:35:00.009+09:00

Among the Forty-seven Ronin, one was ordered to travel to Ako and to inform the revenge was done. The remaining Ronin were sentenced to death and forced to commit ritual suicide, and each of them did it on February 4th, 1703. The one who was ordered to bring the news to Ako lived up to the age of seventy-seven and was buried at Sengakuji. When you go to Sengakuji Temple and look at the graves, you can read the age these warriors were when they committed suicide... and some of them were very young. Try to imagine such a scene : 46 men aged from 20 up to 70 who quietly accept to cut their belly... and become immortal.

Camera : Canon EOS40D

SENGAKUJI - II

2009-11-22T15:57:00.010+09:00

The tale of the Forty-seven Ronin, also called "Ako Vendetta" or "47 Samurai", inspired lots of Kabuki and Bunraku plays. To make it short, a feudal lord named Asano Takumi-no-Kami Naganori, tried to kill a court official called Kira Yoshinaka who had offensed him. He was immediately sentenced to death by the 5th Shogun Tokugawa and forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide).
Oishi Kuranosuke Yoshio, principal councellor of Asano, took the head of the vendetta. Oishi and 46 men patiently prepared the revenge of their Lord, and finally killed Kira, took his head, and bought it to their Lord's grave at Sengakuji. They washed Kira's head in the well of the Temple (above picture) and laid it in front of Asano's tomb. They gave the money they had left to the abbot of the Temple, asking him to bury them decently and to give them prayers. And they waited for their own punishment...

Camera : Canon EOS40D

SENGAKUJI - I

2009-11-21T23:54:00.009+09:00

Sengakuji is a Buddhist Temple (Soto Zen) close to the Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. It is a small but famous Temple where are located the graves of the Forty-Seven Ronin...　Sengakuji was first built by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1612 near the Edo Castle, but its devastation by fire 30 years later lead to a reconstruction in its actual place. It used to be one of the 3 principal Temple of Edo old Tokyo) and considered as a reputed Buddhist institution. The popular tale of the 47 Ronin still touches the Japanese heart, and lots of people flocked there to pray during the last past 300 years.

Camera : Canon EOS40D

TOGO JINJA

2009-11-21T19:48:00.007+09:00

The Togo Shrine is dedicated to Admiral Togo Heihachiro (1848-1934) who destroyed the Russian Baltic Fleet in 1905 at the Battle of Tsushima. You can visit Admiral's battelship, called "Mikasa", in Yokosuka. The Shrine, built in 1940, is located in the fashionable area of Omotesando, at the intersection of the Takeshita Street and the Meiji Avenue (station : Harajuku). In 2009, Shinto shrines celebrate the 20th year of actual the Emperor's era. The miror of the above picture represents one of the 3 Imperial Regalia (the miror, the sword and the jewel).

Camera : Canon EOS40D

TASTE OF GREEN

2009-11-15T19:30:00.005+09:00

Camera : Canon EOS40D

WAGASA V

2009-11-12T00:42:00.003+09:00

Camera : Canon EOS40D

WAGASA IV

2009-11-03T01:13:00.005+09:00

Just can't refrain from posting this one as well...

Camera : Canon EOS40D

WAGASA III

2009-11-02T00:00:00.005+09:00

Another artwork handmade by Yasuko Horie.

Camera : Canon EOS40D

WAGASA II

2009-11-01T17:01:00.005+09:00

Handmade Wagasa by Yasuko Horie really impressed me... A feeling the up-coming posts will focus on her beautiful artworks...
You can get more information (in Japanese) about Yasuko Horie's wagasa at : www.wagasa-h.com

Camera : Canon EOS40D

WAGASA I

2009-11-01T00:10:00.004+09:00

Yesterday, I had the chance to visit an exhibition of Japanese traditional umbrellas. Wagasa are made of bamboo and Japanese traditional paper (washi). All the wagasa where handmade by a woman artist whose name is Yasuko Horie. She explained me it takes her 3 months to make a single umbrella...

Camera : Canon EOS40D

KASUMICHO MATSURI

2009-09-23T20:01:00.006+09:00

September is a busy period for Matsuri (Shinto Festivals). Each shrine celebrate its Matsuri : a portative shrine is moved around the district in order to offer positive influence to the aera and its people. For those who are moving the Shrine around, its a tough physical job : about one hundred kilos moved on shoulders during 2 or 3 hours... But stop-over are organized here and there to eat and drink beer or nihonshu (japanese rice alcohol). The below shots where taken at the Kasumi-Cho Matsuri. Kasumi-Cho is an area located in central Tokyo City, at Azabu-Juban.

RAINY TAMAGAWA

2009-09-17T00:25:00.005+09:00

A taste of the rainy season in Tokyo...

KOKUSAI FORUM ROOF

2009-09-13T22:31:00.003+09:00

From the ground, the Forum's roof looks like a boat in the sky... A boat made of metal and glass.

Camera : Canon EOS40D

TOKYO LEGO CITY

2009-09-13T13:45:00.003+09:00

Tokyo may sometimes looks like a Lego made city...

Camera : Canon EOS40D

TOKYO BAY

2009-09-07T07:20:00.001+09:00

View on Tokyo bay from the Hamamatsucho area.

Camera : Canon EOS40D

URBAN TOKYO

2009-09-03T00:31:00.003+09:00

View on the urban Tokyo city... Conrete spreading all around...

Camera : Canon EOS40D