My time in Japan

[SSJup81]

Pretty!! The Japan Alps look very nice and intriguing. That bridge looks scary though. I have a slight fear of bridges. lol

[Retrogamer77]

This just makes me want to go even more! While I would of course love to spend a little time in the cities, I would probably want to spend the majority of my time in rural Japan.

[Ponpon]

I feel like robbing a bank and just.. going there
Great pictures!! can't wait to go myself

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

WOW! Your shots are amazing! Really good work. The quality and resolution is so clear. You really did get around a lot. Seeing photos like those, reminds me of how much I want to visit that place. It looks so peaceful and serene. Almost surreal in a way. ^_^

You are taking requests? By any chance, you you have any photos of Gifu Castle? Or Honno-ji Temple? I'd like to see more shots of those. The web pretty much only has so many pictures, and I'd like to see some different angles.

Thanx in advance!

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by Kanji_The_Wanderer

WOW! Your shots are amazing! Really good work. The quality and resolution is so clear. You really did get around a lot. Seeing photos like those, reminds me of how much I want to visit that place. It looks so peaceful and serene. Almost surreal in a way. ^_^

You are taking requests? By any chance, you you have any photos of Gifu Castle? Or Honno-ji Temple? I'd like to see more shots of those. The web pretty much only has so many pictures, and I'd like to see some different angles.

Thanx in advance!

Sorry, but I never visited either of those places. I did visit several other castles, and TONS of different temples, though. Here are some pictures of 2 of my favorite castles:

Matsumoto Castle:





Castles are usually filled with weapons, armor, and the history of the castle. Also, castles usually have the crescent-shaped carp on the roofs to ward away evil spirits, as you can see in 1 photo here. Matsumoto Castle was surrounded by a moat filled with carp, and some beautiful gardens, and it had a lot of interesting artifacts inside, even a cannon!

And of course, the famous Himeji Castle, renowned as one of the best in all of Japan:



I can scan in some pictures of temples next, if you'd like. Nara had some of the most impressive statues...

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

The images are very impressive! Your photos definitely give those ancient structures the credit they deserve! You really captured the majesty. ^_^

I have a few questions though. Maybe you can answer them:

In the 6th picture of Matsumoto Castle, there is a statue of a fish on a rooftop. Do you have any idea why so many Japanese castles have fish-looking statues on the roof? I see them all in time, in feudal Japan games, or in animated movies. Now I see them in real life as well.

Do these fish statues act as a ward of a different kind?

Also, are both these castles from the same Era? What time were they used? The samurai armor you see in the cases, were those warn by castle guards?

I'd more then like to see some Temple photographs. Your shots are amazing!


PS. Himeji Castle does look impressive! It appears to have Golden tint to it.

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by Kanji_The_Wanderer

The images are very impressive! Your photos definitely give those ancient structures the credit they deserve! You really captured the majesty. ^_^

I have a few questions though. Maybe you can answer them:

In the 6th picture of Matsumoto Castle, there is a statue of a fish on a rooftop. Do you have any idea why so many Japanese castles have fish-looking statues on the roof? I see them all in time, in feudal Japan games, or in animated movies. Now I see them in real life as well.

Do these fish statues act as a ward of a different kind?

Also, are both these castles from the same Era? What time were they used? The samurai armor you see in the cases, were those warn by castle guards?

I'd more then like to see some Temple photographs. Your shots are amazing!


PS. Himeji Castle does look impressive! It appears to have Golden tint to it.

The fish statues are supposed to ward away evil and misfortune, especially fire (being water creatures, they are naturally opposed to fire). Since Japanese castles are built mostly of wood, fire was always a danger to them, unlike mostly stone castles in Europe.

Here are the wikipedia pages for the 2 castles:
Matsumoto Castle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Himeji Castle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
According to them, these (along with Kumamoto Castle) are considered the 3 best castles in Japan. (You'll find that the Japanese love to name the "3 best..." whatevers). Matsumoto Castle dates from 1593 and Himeji Castle from 1601, though a castle had been on the site since 1331 that was badly damaged and then rebuilt and greatly expanded to its current size. So the current castles are from the same period.

The armor was worn by local guard captains and lords. I believe the ones in these pictures were much fancier than the typical guard would wear.

The trim had a somewhat golden tint, enhanced by the sunlight reflecting off the white walls... it almost made the castle seem to glow in the right light.

I'll put up some Nara temple pictures today.

[Sanchome]

Those are some beautiful pictures, especially the ones up in the mountains.

[kyo_9]

have anyone been to kinkakuji in kyoto?

[samurai007]

Here are some pictures of the 1,250 year old Daibutsu in Nara, the largest gilt-bronze statue in the world, as well as the temple it's housed in and other statues around it. The temple is called Todai-ji, and the building housing the Great Buddha statue is the largest wooden building in the world, and as huge as it is, it was once even larger than it is now! When the original building burned down in 1790, the current version was rebuilt at just 2/3 the size of the original!






In order to get a sense of just how massive the building is, look at the tiny people in the entryways... they are less than half the height of the doorway.

The guy in the black jacket posing in a couple of the shots was one of the JTEs I taught with. He guided me around Nara that day.

kyo_9, I never did get around to visiting the Golden Temple in Kyoto, but I did visit the Silver Temple, Ginkakuji, if you'd like to see that.