(no subject)
I haven't made a real picture post about my journey so far. So here we go...
First there are some pictures from Kanazawa.
Kanazawa has a famous Japanese garden. It was...neat...
Probably a bit too clean and artificial. It feels like a botanical Legoland.
They clean the lawn from unwanted grass species by hand.
Of course there was Coi as well.
After Kanazawa I took a train to Hiroshima, where I stayed in a capsule hotel for three nights. Tatoos in Japan are used as a social marker by the organized crime and thus not seen appropriate in some establishments. I can understand this cultural attitude as something similar to shaving your head in Germany (Nazi), whereas it is perfectly accepted elsewhere (China?).
The A-Bomb Dome is one of the handful buildings which were not completely flattened by the detonation in Hiroshima downtown.
It is located next to the peace meorial park. Where the paper crane has become a symbol for hope and peace through the sad story of a girl who prayed to be rescued from cancer. It is said that if you fold one thousand paper cranes you are granted a wish. The girl died before she finished the task.
Sparrows taking a bath next to the A-Bomb dome.
I also went to the nearby island of Miyajima. The "floating" gate is apparently one of the most photographed motives in Japan.
Then I took the Shinkansen to Kyoto.
This is the first picture of a Fox temple that I took in Kyoto. I was wandering around two days, but Kyoto is total temple overdose. They charge you 300-500Yen in most of them and usually having seen one temple you've seen them all.
That's true to some degree, but if you pick carefully there are some real delights
such as this stone garden in a Zen-temple district. Here I think we have an abstraction of the universe
and this is a Zen-truth. Something along the lines, the bigger stone ripples the water stronger.
Geisha on the way to a performance. You can hire Geisha in restaurants to acompany and entertain you with song and conversation.
Crane craning his neck.
Ghostdog. The way of the samurai.
After Kyoto. I went to nearby Nara to watch an open air Noh theater festival. I find Noh much more difficult and less enjoyable than say the Indian Katakali. The story is usually very simple, about a priest or noble man, a restless spirit or deity and a conflict which is solved through meditation or prayer. The characters barely move but talk in extra monotonous singing voices. And then there is the band which plays drums and flute and make strange noises "Roooohbuu. Roh! Roh! Roooobuu..."
The imperial park in Nara is the home of very spoiled deer. To the delight of the tourists, you can buy deer cookies and feed the animals which nudge you with their noses or even their horns. This one here was a bit shy though and didn't know if to be scare of my camera eye or seduced by the cookie I held out.
Then there is Todaiji. The wolds biggest wooden building. Very impressive. Even more impressive
the equally huge Buddha statue inside.
From Nara I went to Mount Fuji. You can see some pictures of it and of me climbing it here.
Bird at the 6th station of Mt. Fuji.
The rest of the journey I worked a little bit in Tokio. I also saw sumo there, and cosplayers. But I didn't take pictures like everybody else was.
Tokio is nicer than I thought, nut maybe I was lucky because it was not too hot and humid or rainy season yet.
Busy street at Shibuya station.
Watch out for clamydia!
cheers
Ralf
First there are some pictures from Kanazawa.
Kanazawa has a famous Japanese garden. It was...neat...
Probably a bit too clean and artificial. It feels like a botanical Legoland.
They clean the lawn from unwanted grass species by hand.
Of course there was Coi as well.
After Kanazawa I took a train to Hiroshima, where I stayed in a capsule hotel for three nights. Tatoos in Japan are used as a social marker by the organized crime and thus not seen appropriate in some establishments. I can understand this cultural attitude as something similar to shaving your head in Germany (Nazi), whereas it is perfectly accepted elsewhere (China?).
The A-Bomb Dome is one of the handful buildings which were not completely flattened by the detonation in Hiroshima downtown.
It is located next to the peace meorial park. Where the paper crane has become a symbol for hope and peace through the sad story of a girl who prayed to be rescued from cancer. It is said that if you fold one thousand paper cranes you are granted a wish. The girl died before she finished the task.
Sparrows taking a bath next to the A-Bomb dome.
I also went to the nearby island of Miyajima. The "floating" gate is apparently one of the most photographed motives in Japan.
Then I took the Shinkansen to Kyoto.
This is the first picture of a Fox temple that I took in Kyoto. I was wandering around two days, but Kyoto is total temple overdose. They charge you 300-500Yen in most of them and usually having seen one temple you've seen them all.
That's true to some degree, but if you pick carefully there are some real delights
such as this stone garden in a Zen-temple district. Here I think we have an abstraction of the universe
and this is a Zen-truth. Something along the lines, the bigger stone ripples the water stronger.
Geisha on the way to a performance. You can hire Geisha in restaurants to acompany and entertain you with song and conversation.
Crane craning his neck.
Ghostdog. The way of the samurai.
After Kyoto. I went to nearby Nara to watch an open air Noh theater festival. I find Noh much more difficult and less enjoyable than say the Indian Katakali. The story is usually very simple, about a priest or noble man, a restless spirit or deity and a conflict which is solved through meditation or prayer. The characters barely move but talk in extra monotonous singing voices. And then there is the band which plays drums and flute and make strange noises "Roooohbuu. Roh! Roh! Roooobuu..."
The imperial park in Nara is the home of very spoiled deer. To the delight of the tourists, you can buy deer cookies and feed the animals which nudge you with their noses or even their horns. This one here was a bit shy though and didn't know if to be scare of my camera eye or seduced by the cookie I held out.
Then there is Todaiji. The wolds biggest wooden building. Very impressive. Even more impressive
the equally huge Buddha statue inside.
From Nara I went to Mount Fuji. You can see some pictures of it and of me climbing it here.
Bird at the 6th station of Mt. Fuji.
The rest of the journey I worked a little bit in Tokio. I also saw sumo there, and cosplayers. But I didn't take pictures like everybody else was.
Tokio is nicer than I thought, nut maybe I was lucky because it was not too hot and humid or rainy season yet.
Busy street at Shibuya station.
Watch out for clamydia!
cheers
Ralf