My time in Japan

[samurai007]

I decided to do compilation sets for Urban Japan and Rural Japan, to show what a difference there is between the 2. Personally, I found rural Japan to be far more beautiful and photogenic. So much so that out of over 700 photos, I was surprised to find that I probably had less than 25-30 of urban Japan!



These pictures are of Kobe (upper lf), Tokyo (upper rt), a shopping area in Osaka (I think? Not sure, every big city had similar covered shopping streets), and Matsumoto City at night (lower rt).



These are Nachi Falls (upper lt), a trail at a remote mountain temple complex in Wakayama-ken (lower lt), a country road and shrine near Takayama (upper rt), rice paddies in a tiny town on the shores of Lake Biwa (middle rt), and one of the over 100 temple on Mt Koya (bottom rt).

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

Originally Posted by samurai007

a country road and shrine near Takayama (upper rt)

Wow! That Shrine near Takayama, looks really beautiful. I just love how there are so many shrines scattered around Japanese forest roads. Did the people do this so travelers/merchants could pray for a safe journey?

Do you have anymore images like that one? Of shrines and little water/pray sites of the beaten path?

Originally Posted by samurai007

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.

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.

That's a neat way to symbolize what the statues were made for. To ward off fire? That's interesting. I have always loved the mind-set behind Japanese architecture. It really shows you how much they believe in spirits and guardians. It's amazing how much time and energy they devoted to their Gods/Spirits.

So the castle Lords wore that armor? That's what I like about Japan more then other countries. The Lords and Emperors were warriors themselves. Unlike most European countries. The Lords in Europe, most of them didn't do battle, so they were always being overthrown since they were weak.

That castle with the Golden tint, must look amazing in the right light.

[samurai007]

Yeah, I've got quite a few pictures of little shrines and statues like that. I can post some if you like. I think that was probably the reason, chances to make an offering along a trip, or to memorialize a local god, spirit, or event, etc. They are all over Japan, and I really enjoyed finding them here and there, it was like constant little reminders that "Holy cow, I'm really in JAPAN!"

Himeji Castle itself is white, I think just some of the trim may have been golden, or maybe that was entirely reflected sunlight... I'm not sure.

Did you see the Nara pictures I posted on the previous page? What did you think?

[samurai007]

Ok, here are a couple pages of various small shrines and such, from throughout Japan. Most didn't have signs in English, but the little pond in the upper right did... in case you can't read it, it says "Fountain of Youth"! Man, those Spanish explorers were way off, looking for it in Florida!

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

Originally Posted by samurai007

Ok, here are a couple pages of various small shrines and such, from throughout Japan. Most didn't have signs in English, but the little pond in the upper right did... in case you can't read it, it says "Fountain of Youth"! Man, those Spanish explorers were way off, looking for it in Florida!

These are great! Thanx for sending these. I also really like how in the cities/towns there is a little shrine area. I don't know if these were placed here after the town was built, but to me, it always feels like the shrines were made in ancient times, and the towns/cities were built around them. Maybe they did, and perhaps the Japanese thought it a sin to take down old structures.

That first photo, with the man on the rock, with the walking stick, it looks like that statue is in the middle of the street!

Originally Posted by samurai007

Did you see the Nara pictures I posted on the previous page? What did you think?

I must of missed those! That Buddha statue is really impressive. Such detail! I can only imagine how long it would take to make something so gigantic. Those people are very small. Not even half the size of the doorway? That's incredible!

So that Temple in Nara is a replacement for the original? If you hadn't told me that, I would have never of guessed. This structure looks just as old as any other.

Do you have any more Buddha statue photos?

Sorry if I am asking to much.

[Yasushi]

Amazing, all i can say. these picturese are the best.

[samurai007]

I have tons and tons of pictures of statues, everything from foo dogs to Nio (gate guardians) to gods and goddesses to Buddha.










The Nio statues were some of my favorites. Some are smaller than a person, others (like the unpainted one on the upper right, from Nara) are as much as 26' tall! But they are always impressive, and I have quite a few pictures of various Nio from temples all over Japan. To read more about Nio:

Nio Protectors of Japan - Japanese Buddhism Photo Dictionary

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

They! That is something else! Statue photos: 2,4, 8, 9 and 10 Look the most amazing.

Statue in photo 8 is huge! How big is that? It looks like it is three times the size of those houses in the distances.I like how it is getting dark too. You must of loves taking all these photos. Did you travel all over the country? You must of been there along time to get so many different shots of so many different things.

Did you go to Mount Fuji? Take any pictures of that? How about Hokkaido? Did you go there in the snow around Sapporo and such.

Sorry for all the question. Take your time.

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by Kanji_The_Wanderer

They! That is something else! Statue photos: 2,4, 8, 9 and 10 Look the most amazing.

Statue in photo 8 is huge! How big is that? It looks like it is three times the size of those houses in the distances.I like how it is getting dark too. You must of loves taking all these photos. Did you travel all over the country? You must of been there along time to get so many different shots of so many different things.

Did you go to Mount Fuji? Take any pictures of that? How about Hokkaido? Did you go there in the snow around Sapporo and such.

Sorry for all the question. Take your time.

No problem, I love to talk about my time in Japan.

I lived there for 2 whole years on the JET Program. I did travel all over the country, from Nikko in the north-east to Nagasaki in the south-west. I lived in Hashimoto City, Wakayama-ken, which is about 50 minutes south of Osaka by train.




See Hashimoto Station in the upper right corner of the map, on the train line to Koya-san? I lived 3 blocks from that station...

Unfortunately, I never made it to Hokkaido, and while I passed within viewing distance of Mt Fuji on my way back from Tokyo, I wasn't able to get a good picture of it (it was pretty far away, and buildings kept blocking my shots from the train.)

The picture of Statue 8 was taken in Nagasaki. It was quite a ways in the distance and getting dark, as you can see, so I never made it over to the statue to see where it was, why it was there, etc. I had other places to go and things to see, and had no time... (I really loved Nagasaki, very interesting place to visit!) But you're right, it certainly looked huge and very impressive!

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

Interesting! Very interesting! I've never heard of Hashimoto City.

That's too bad you didn't get to visit Mount Fuji. I would have loved to see some photos taken by that great resolution camera you got there. ^_^

Since you don't have any photos from Hokkaido, do you have any pictures of shrines/forests/ temples in the snow?

I hope you got some snow-covered photos, if you were living at that city for two years, I'm sure you got something.

=]