Asian Images

Takayama

Takayama is located in the Japanese Alps in Central Honshu. Historically, the region was an important source of timber and water from the surrounding mountains is still used to produce some of Japan's best quality sake.  Many Edo period wood buildings are preserved in the downtown streets of Takayama.

A blurred sky line image of the high Japanese Alps taken through a hotel window.

The thatched ball of straw hanging from the eaves identifies this Edo-period shop in the Sannomachi Quarter as a sake distributor.

The Takayama Matsuri festival is held in the spring and the fall and dates from 1690. During the festival eleven highly ornate floats are pulled in procession around the town by local people in Edo-period dress. Four of the floats are on display throughout the year in an exhibition hall. 

Lavish decoration on the base and wooden wheels of a festival float.

 

A menacing image of a horned spirit on the side of a float.

Bronze statues of mythical creatures facing each other across the Kaji Bashi bridge over the Miya River.

Wagon wheels and grinding bowls.

A drive-in sake and beer bar.

 

Equestrian statue with royal chrysanthemum decoration.

 

 

The Takayama region produces hida beef - a gastronomic delight. The beef is typically finely marbled, tender and  similar in flavor to the perhaps better known wagu beef.

 

A fearsome dragon guarding a water well and ensuring its purity.

 

Nara Moments

Nara shika deer are well fed. Deer crackers can be bought throughout the Nara park and the smart deer just hang out beside the vendors and seem to have a sixth sense as to who will buy their next free lunch.

Kathleen is a devout animal lover and the deer seemed to know that a snack was in the offering as soon as we set foot in the park. As the photos illustrate, the deer lack all table manners and they can in fact be quite aggressive. Witness the one deer forcing its snout into Kathleens coat pocket.

Remarkably, many of the shika deer have a habit of nodding their head up and down as if to ask for food or perhaps to imitate the traditional Japanese etiquette of multiple bows to show respect.

Animal lovers, young and old, be warned!

Sake barrels.

 

 

Trinket stores and sakura.

 

Nara is celebrating its 1,300th birthday in 2010. The mascot for the birthday events is a baby Buddha with deer horns. This has been, understandably, a controversial choice of image given the religious and spiritual significance of Buddha. One wonders what the reaction might be elsewhere in the world if the image of Muhammad was adorned with horns for marketing a birthday!

 

Nara

The ancient city of Nara was founded in 710 and for 74 years Nara stood as the first capital of Japan. During this period Nara was one of the most influential centers of Buddhism in Asia. Many wooden buildings remain from the 8th century.

The Great Buddha Hall of the Todai-ji Temple complex. This all wooden structure dates from 1709 and is reported to be only two thirds of the size of the original hall constructed by Emperor Shomyo in 752. The golden horns on the roof line are 18th century embellishments.

 

Vairocana, the Great Buddha - a 16 meter high bronze statue cast in 752.

A wooden Buddha draped in red outside the Great Buddha Hall. Visitors and pilgrims who suffer body pain believe that touching the equivalent part of the Buddha's body will cure their suffering.

There are over 3,000 stone lanterns lining the pathways of the Kasuga Grand Shrine. The original Shinto shrine was built in 710 by the Fujiwara family.  Each lantern has been donated by ordinary people as a token of faith.

Images from the Kasuga Shrine.

 

Shika deer are considered to be 'messengers of the gods'. There are reported to be over 1,000 sacred, and also tame, deer roaming freely within Nara park and around many of the most important historical sites.

Ryokan Myojinkan

Ryokan Myojinkan is a traditional Japanese guest house nestled into a secluded mountain valley about 20 kilometers south of Matsumoto. The ryokan embodies the very best of Japanese ryokan traditions including style, service quality, comfort, excellent food and careful attention to detail.

Sleeping beauty on a tatami mat!

 

 

The Ryokan Myojinkan has its own on-sen or volcanic hot spring. The on-sen feeds both communal baths and the above 'personal' on-sen which is a wonderful feature of the suite. A large glass door opens from the bath room to a private outdoors balcony for the cool-down period. A good soak in the hot water creates a deeply penetrating warm body glow that is both relaxing and long lasting.

No photos are available of any occupants being poached in the bath!

 

 

 

 
  
  

Harmony in black and white.

 

 

Traditional hotel dress - yukata and outer jacket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An exquisite in-room floral arrangement and and an exquisite in-room guest!

 

Matsumoto Castle

Matsumoto castle in central Honshu is a designated Japanese 'National Treasure'. There are few castles remaining from the feudal period and Matsumoto is one of the best preserved. The castle walls and moat date from 1504 and the keep from 1593. Many Japanese castles were destroyed following the dissolution of the shogunate in the 19th century - Matusmoto was saved by the efforts and financial contibutions of the local population.

 

The six-tier castle keep framed by sakura in full bloom.

 

 

Approach bridge to the wooden castle - steep ladders provide fit tourists with access to the sixth floor of the castle and panoramic views of the surrounding Japanese Alps.

 

 

 

A picture postcard-perfect castle!

 

Gassho Houses

Shirakawa-go is located in the Shokawa valley in a remote mountainous region of Central Honshu. Historically the region has been a refuge for the persecuted and defeated. Today the area attracts tourists to see the traditional gassho-zukuri thatched wooden houses and to experience a more simple lifestyle compared to modern Japan.

A winter-like Shirakawa-go panorama.

 

 

The total number of gassho style houses in the region has shrunk from an original count of about 1,800 to less than 150 today.

A typical 4-story gassho-zukuri style thatched house. The name gassho means 'praying hands' and derives from the steep, 60 degree roof angle. Traditionally the houses are constructed without nails and straw ropes are used to bind the timbers together. The thatch can be up to 1 meter thick.

Two whimsical images in contrast to the rather 'cool' views of the village. Above - two colorful mascots outside a craft shop. Below - a tour bus evidently carrying very happy tourists! 

  

Miyajima Moments

Miyajima is a delightful island to explore. It offers outstanding and unspoilt natural scenery and a rich variety of tranquil Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples for moments of contemplation. On a warm spring day with blue skies and sunshine, the island provided no shortage of fascinating images to keep the camera busy.

A Shinto priest presides over a traditional wedding ceremony in the Itsukshima Shrine - the bride on the right wears a white headdress known as a 'tsuno-kakushi'' to cover her 'horns of jealousy'. The tsuno-kakushi symbolizes the bride's resolve to become a gentle and obedient wife!

The island explorers - Kathleen's black beret is not the equivalent of a tsuno-kakushi!

Photo courtesy of Nobuko Takami, our charming and warm guide from Hiroshima.

 

  
 

Sunshine faces - Nobu and Kathleen.

 

  

Sakura above the Daisho-in Temple.

 

Green prayer wheels and golden chrysanthemum incense holder - Daisho-in temple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buddhist statuary - Daisho-in Temple.

 

 

Six-trunk pine tree - Treasure House

 

 

Practical time advice on the trail to the cable car.
 

Japanese icon!

Miyajima Island

Miyajima Island lies within the Inland Sea of Japan. This serene island is accessible in under one hour by train and boat from the city of Hiroshima. A day spent on the island is well worth the short journey.

Approaching Miyajima Island from the north. In the foreground is the iconic great torii gate in vermilion. This gate is the sea entrance to the shinto Itsukushima Shrine. Its location in the sea denotes that the entire Miyajima Island is sacred.

The four-legged style 'floating' torii gate to Itsukushima Shrine was first built by the warlord Taira no Kiyomori in the 12th century. The present gate dates from 1875 and is about 16 meters high.

Looking through the torii gate to a wedding ceremony on the outer deck of the Itsukushima Shrine. The shrine, founded in 593, is built on stilts over a small cove.

Two Shinto Maidens bow during a formal wedding ceremony in the main pavilion of the Itsukushima Shrine.

 

The 5-story Goju-no-to pagoda built in 1407.

 

 

 

 

The Goju-no-to pagoda from the Itsukushima Shrine.

 

 

A glorious panorama looking north from the summit of Mount Misen towards the Sanyo coast of western Honshu. The summit is reached via two short cable car rides and a trail hike.

Shinkansen and Thomas

Japan boasts the most modern and extensive railway system in the world. Trains are safe, highly efficient, comfortable, clean and, for the most part, user friendly for monoglot English speakers. The 'shinkansen' or 'new main line' trains, otherwise known as bullet trains are Japanese icons.

 

The ultra-aerodynamic nose of a bullet train - Utsonomiya station.

 

A 16-car shinkansen approaches Hiroshima station.

 

 

A 'Nozomi' series shinkansen waiting to depart from Kyoto - the fastest and most expensive bullet train in service.

 

 

Passing Nozomi's - Hiroshima.

 

 

Fujikyu Railway - a 2-car local train running between Otsuki and Kawaguchiko, close to Mount Fuji. The train is delightfully painted inside and outside with all the locomotive characters that come to life in the tales of 'Thomas the Tank Engine'.

 

 

Kathleen and company!

 

 

 

A nozomi car bound for Osaka - platform markings indicate precisely where to board each car. Shinkansen arrive punctually and typically depart within 3 minutes of arrival. The shinkansen trains travel on dedicated tracks at speeds up to 300 km per hour. On busy routes the shinkansen run with only a 3-minute interval between trains. On board, the trains are quiet, smooth and frequent route announcements are made in both Japanese and English. The travel experience is much like flying.

Nikko Moments

 

Traditional shoppers! 

 

 

Wedding Day!

 

 
 

 
JR Nikko Station - designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

 

 

Kathleen framed by the outer wall of the Haiden sanctuary - Taiyuin-byo Shrine.