One of the most prominent Fire Festivals of Japan is held tomorrow ：July 14 in Wakayama-ken Shrouded beneath the thick branches of the Nachi Primeval Forest, the Kumano Kodo—the most sacred pilgrimage trail in Japan today - zigzags through the Kii Mountains of the Wakayama Peninsula. The five ancient routes that make up the Kumano Kodo lead to one of the most spiritual places in the country: Nachi Falls. Three shrines surrounding Mt. Nachi, together referred to as Kumano Sanzan, are the headquarter… Read more

iroshige and the Tōkaidō Road In 1832, Hiroshige traveled the length of the Tōkaidō from Edo(Tokyo) to Kyoto, as part of an official delegation transporting horses for the Imperial court. The horses were a symbolic gift from the Shogun, presented annually in recognition of the Emperor's divine status. Hiroshige started a trip from Nihombashi(日本橋), the real center of Edo (present Tokyo) The landscapes of the journey made a profound impression on the artist, and he created numerous sketches during the course of the trip… Read more

Summer School Holiday starts soon from July 21 but those smooth girls are not patient . No Homeworks but Open work.... Let's Dance... Young fruites are already ripe by now... Life is holy ? We can do anything up or… Read more

July is the month of one of the largest and most historical festivals of Japan: "Gion Matsuri (Festival)". Literally from the 1st of July until the end of the month, traditional rituals and events belonging to this massive 1,100 years-old festival are held almost every day. The Gion Festival is a big annual festival dedicated to the deity of Yasaka Shrine. Throughout its history, Kyoto has suffered many times from all kinds of bad omens including epidemics, floods, fires, and earthquakes. To keep the bad ome… Read more

Goju-no-toh (Five Storied Pagoda=五重塔) at Itsukushima-shrine, Miyajima, Hiroshima Pagodas were originally used as reliquaries like Indian Stupa but, in many cases, as in Japan, they ended up losing this function. This is Rurikouji, Yamaguchi-ken (National Treasure) Buddhist Temple 31.2m built :1442 Pagodas are typicallly important components of Japanese Buddhist temple compounds but, because of unique ha… Read more

Adventures https://blog-imgs-101.fc2.com/s/k/b/skbjkjsk/0-fee06ec2ff59ed69a7af303c5a… Read more

“Tanabata” Matsuri - Japan’s Ancient Stellar Celebration (Sendai Tanabata Festival) Tanabata has been a major festival in Japan for at least four hundred years. It marks the period when the stars kengyūsei (牽牛星, Altair) and shokujosei (織女星, Vega) are visible high in the sky, and is based on a story of an old folklore. According to the tale, the princess Orihime (織姫), daughter of the Sky Emperor (天帝, tentei) wove kimono for the gods by the River of the Skies (天の川, amanogawa – the Milky Way). As she was feeling lonel… Read more

"Setsugekka" (雪月花, lit. "Snow, Moon, Flowers") : Echigo Tokimeki Railway's two-car diesel resort train in service in Niigata Prefecture. In March 2015, JR East Shin-Etsu Main Line and JR West Hokuriku Main Line were separated from the respective JR Group operators, coinciding with the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Nagano to Kanazawa. https://blog-imgs-101.fc2.com/s/k/b/skbjk… Read more

Japanese Ryokan (旅館) embodies many of the best elements from the olden times Japan, such as culture, technology, art, and customs. Ryokans are the place to go to experience the lifestyle treasured and handed down by the Japanese people; staying at a Japanese ryokan is surely the ideal way of getting to know the true Japan. The origins of the Japanese Ryokan can be traced back to the so-called "Fuseya" of the Nara Period (710-784). Fuseya, which were free rest houses, are thought to have been the first facilities i… Read more

Let me introduce nice friends of mine in the forest. They are professional musicians and fashion models. The Japanese Green Pigeons(length 32 to 33cm) are roughly green all over with some sexual dimorphism in plumage coloration. They are called "Aobato" in Japanese, frequently sing in the breeding period mostly in the forested uplands like"Oh-, aoh-, Ah-oah-, Oh-aoah-" with stress laying on "a" part, which sounds like… Read more

More Peaches in Japan .... here's a "Peach Boy (Momo-taro)", a popular hero's folklore originating from Okayama Prefecture. "Story of Momo-taro" Long, long ago, there lived an old man and his ol… Read more

Joyful Trains (JR East Tohoku Region) The western terminal station of the line is Hanamaki (city) where you find 10 attractive hot springs area called "Hanamaki Onsen". Varying in sizes from one of the largest and most comfortable hotels in Tohoku to an old small inn with… Read more

There are 4 climbing trails (main routes) and what opens today is called Yoshida Trail (below), the most popular route. Other 3 routes are to open on July 10. Mount Fuji as of 18:00/June 29, 2018 : Rainy Season was over just on that day : 2 days before opening of the fi… Read more

"Joyful Train" is the name given to railway rolling stock or train sets operated by the JR Group in Japan primarily for charters, special events, tourist excursions, and other similar purposes. Its concept can be traced back to 1960, when a 1935-vintage dining car was converted into a Japanese-style o-zashiki train with tatami flooring and shoji paper screens on the windows. "Kirakira Uetsu" operates between Murakami, Atsumi Hot Springs, Tsuruoka and Sakata on the Uetsu Main Line. https://blog-imgs-101.fc… Read more

Photo below : June 29, 2018 Asakusa, Tokyo… Read more

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<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScTr3dWIN1uWVl2z-Ip4qwyV5DpouXDbe3IRrZ7f6tMHAgriQ/viewform?embedded=true" width="700" height="520" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">読み込んでいます...</iframe>… Read more

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