sorafotosorafotophotos from daily life around different places in japan Articles
wandering around kamakura
2008-03-24 06:00:00 ah, walking along the lazy back streets of western kamakura... never know what you might find... like, for example, at approximately: 35°18'53.21"N 139°31'47.94"E tucked just slightly back into the wooded area, is one of the tens of caves around the kamakura area. though i haven't explored the cave quite yet (when i found it i hadn't any of the appropriate equipment), i reckon i wll return there again sometime-- hopefully before it starts getting too hot and the insects start waking up again! photo location 35°18'34.11"N 139°31'45.23"E More About: Wandering
kamakura hiking trail
2008-03-23 06:00:00 ????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????? (...continuing from yesterday's post.) further along the hiking trail in Kamakura, i came across a fellow trekker; as he nodded to me and walked over the rise, i decided to snap a quick shot at the lowest shutter speed i'd dared, to try and blur his stride a bit. something as i consider the scene, there was something else alive in the environment; something about being within the trees and walking along their beautiful roots was so peaceful and inspiring. approx location: 35°19'51.15"N 139°32'42.41"E More About: Hiking , Trail
kamakura hiking trail
2008-03-22 06:00:00 i swim within Iso Mutsu's words quite often in my mind; i think of how she had loved this spiritually-awakening area called kamakura-- a place that had been destroyed and rebuilt so many times over the centuries, and nevertheless remained a holy area through each of these time periods. when you hike along the country trails, you can hear the forest whisper to you everso lightly; i found it presents itself as a single word or emotion that seems somehow foreign to me-- and as soon as i think about where it came from, it has gone. left. it's so difficult to empty my head of all my thoughts; i suppose that i am always scheming or otherwise mulling something over in my head-- but here i can find peace. approx location: 35°19'51.15"N 139°32'42.41"E More About: Hiking , Trail
sakura and asakusa home
2008-03-21 06:00:00 this will be my 5th sakura season; when i type that, i truly cannot believe that i have been living in japan for this long. sometimes it seems that this has been a really long journey; and at other times, it seems as though i have never quite left "home". i know it will sound strange, but part of me feels as though japan has always been a part of me-. when i was in elementary school, one of my classmates' fathers came here on a business trip; when he went back to the states, he stopped in for a "show and tell" day-- showing us some of his photos and talking of his experience here. i do not recall exactly what he had to say on this country; i do, however, remember that he ha given us each a 1Y coin. that single coin opened my eyes to the possibility of crossing an ocean and eventually making it here; the more that i read on japanese culture, and the more that i i talked about life here-- was the more that i realized that a very essential part of me was longin... More About: Home , Sakura
man and leafbare trees
2008-03-17 06:00:00 why is it that when you are a kid, you just cant wait to grow old-- and that when you are old, you keep trying to stay young? i realized the other day that i have hit one of those milestone years in my life-- when i am between old and young, and have to choose which i want to be. i have decided that i wish to age-- that i wish to be like the men on benches who can look out at the world and see it through wise eyes, and who realize that sometimes doing the simple little things, like feeding pigeons, can bring us so much joy More About: Trees
stairs and pigeons
2008-03-16 06:00:00 for some reason, i just loved this scene--right along the banks of the sumida river, near st. luke's international hospital. i thought the pigeons were lined up so perfectly-- all of them were kind of looking at me as if to say, "snap the picture already!!!" More About: Pigeons
cat in aoyama graveyard
2008-03-15 06:00:00 cats seem to love wandering around the cemetery as well; for some reason i can seriously imagine that the cats are the caretakers of the cemetery at night-- comforting the souls of the departed and making sure their souls sleep soundly More About: Graveyard
aoyama cemetery and roppongi hills
2008-03-14 06:00:00 i think it's only when you come to certain clearings in the graveyard that you can look out and realize that you are in the middle of a vibrant city More About: Hills
aoyama cemetery
2008-03-13 06:00:00 aoyama cemetery is one of the more interesting places in tokyo-- though it's located almost in the very middle of Tokyo, it still manages to be a very quiet and solemn place to visit.
coming of age day, tokyo, 2008
2008-03-05 06:00:00 (4:4) I'm not quite sure why, but I think this photo is so expressive of Japanese patience. When the Japanese reach age 20, they are considered adults; they can finally legally have a beer, drive, and enjoy all of the other benefits of adulthood. Often, to signify this rite of passage, women will dress in these kinds of elaborate kimono, head to a ceremony at the local town hall, and then head off to the pub or to karaoke with their friends. Older people, and men in particular, love this holiday as it lets them exercise their photography skills. Female photographers will often approach these kimono-clad women and ask for their permission to take a photo; afterwards they have a bit of a chat. Male photographers, on the other hand, seem to feel assume the role of director for one day, and seem to just walk up to random women and start posing them for a photo. Odd, I thought; but it's a funny thing to watch More About: Tokyo , 2008
omikuji prayers
2008-03-01 06:00:00 directions: 1- insert 100Y coin into slot at base of drawers; 2- shake canister filled with sticks; 3- when "ready", tip canister on end and take stick; 4- match stick number with tray number; 5- read your fortune More About: Prayers
good luck darumas
2008-02-29 06:00:00 Daruma. i think these guys are simultaneously kinda cute and a little unnerving. if i recall correctly, daruma represent buddhist monks who would enter caves and meditate for years on end. as the story goes, the monks would meditate so deeply that their limbs would atrophy over time; their beards would also grow long and scraggly. the darumas also lack pupils; i think that's the aspect that kind of unsettles me. still, the lack of eyes is for good reason. daruma dolls have the "power" to grant wishes; when you wish for something, you paint in one of the eyes; when your wish comes true, you paint in the other eye. More About: Good , Luck , Good Luck
ueno sakura
2008-02-26 06:00:00 when the sakura season gets more into swing, i will be uploading many more photos; but i wanted to add one sooner rather than later! More About: Sakura
sakura sketcher
2008-02-25 06:00:00 an older gent sketches cherry blossoms in Shinjuku gyoen More About: Sakura
love dominoes
2008-02-24 06:00:00 okay, a bit of an artsy one from my uni days ;-) More About: Love , Dominoes
quarter pose
2008-02-20 06:00:00 inspiration for this one came from watching my bored roommate spin a quarter on the desk; as it spun round, almost glittering in the light, my mind slowed down the action, and i imagined kind of a beacon being made by its surface-- something i had wanted to capture here. More About: Pose , Quarter
sakura closeup (kawazu, izu, japan)
2008-02-18 06:00:00 and, with spring right around the corner the cherry blossoms have started coming out! More About: Japan , Sakura
sacred rock (kawazu, izu, japan)
2008-02-17 06:00:00 something that strikes me as being pretty amazing: many of the rocks in japan have their own history, name and spirit; often, when traveling to ancient places, i can find a rock with special kanji characters marked on its surface, or a small weathered placard explaining the history of the stone or boulder. More About: Japan , Rock , Sacred
waterfall and rocks (kawazu, izu, japan)
2008-02-16 06:00:00 when tracing one of the rivers up to the foothills marking its source, i encountered the locally famous seven waterfalls of Kawazu (one of which is shown here). the geology of the area is amazing; now, it has been a while since i've taken a geology course, but the area seems to be surrounded by these amazing basalt columns that, over the ages, have been uplifted and warped into these beautiful flowing lines that mirror the surrounding water. More About: Japan , Rocks , Waterfall
onsen maigic (kawazu, izu, japan)
2008-02-15 06:00:00 Kawazu, Izu. I believe I have always a fascination with water. Living in Japan has brought out in me an increased intrigue in this most hypnotic element, particularly in terms of how to combine it with trees and other flora: ways of weaving it into the tapestry of a garden. Hiking up in the hills of Kawazu, tracing back to the source of one if the larger rivers in the area, I found a series of lovely waterfalls. Now, it should be noted that as the entire area is geothermally active, the water pouring out from various crevasses and streams was not always cold-- in some areas steam was being released in such voluminous amounts that it would appear as though the very earth was giving birth to the clouds above. After a while, we came to a giant onsen lodge built along the side of the cliff; it had an amazing maze of pipes running to different rooms and areas, some quite new and some that seem as though they had been built into the very foundation of this ancient structure. It was quite ... More About: Onsen
snowy trees (atami, japan)
2008-02-14 06:00:00 later that day, snowflakes the size of Y500 coins started falling from the sky. as the cold wind started picking up, it drove the snow in such a frenzy that it looked almost as though the air itself started changing, transforming into an element more closely resembling the ocean than anything else More About: Japan , Trees
winter strawberries (atami, japan)
2008-02-13 06:00:00 this might sound a little strange, but the Japan ese seem to have a fruit, vegetable and flower to mark each season. as winter starts to wane, many people go to these large greenhouses, pay about Y1300 ($12) and get a small two-partitioned plastic tray. one part is to hold the strawberry stems; the other holds a large glob of condensed milk. then people are let lose inside one of the greenhouses-- eating as much as they please for 30 minutes. one of my friends put it this way: ????????????????????????Japanese tend to love places that offer "all you can eat" and "all you can drink". i as well More About: Winter , Strawberries
sapporo snowman (sapporo, hokkaido, japan)
2008-02-08 06:00:00 i love this shot, even though it's not the best contrastwise: the photo was taken in sapporo, which is the hometown of the beer factory whose bottlecaps make up the eyes of this little guy More About: Japan , Hokkaido , Snowman
ramen man (sapporo, hokkaido, japan)
2008-02-05 06:00:00 sapporo is fairly famous for its ramen; this chap has a handful of noodles ready for cooking in some boiling water More About: Japan , Hokkaido
bamboo sky (kamakura, japan)
2008-02-03 06:00:00 taken at hokokuji temple in kamakura More About: Japan , Bamboo
bamboo roots (kamakura, japan)
More articles from this author:2008-02-02 06:00:00 taken at the "hydrangea temple" (ajisai-dera) More About: Japan , Bamboo , Roots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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