Japan Navigator

Torii gates are symbols of Shinto shrines and mark their sacred space from the mundane world. The basic structure consists of two pillars with a top rail and a little below that a second horizontal rail piercing both columns, providing stability to the structure.
The greatest orgy of torii gates can be seen on the mountain [...]

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Marishi Sontendo is another temple of the boar (inoshishi) that is strong for luck and victory in this Wild Boar Year!

[Roaring wild boar in Marishi Sontendo, Kyoto - Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
Zenkyoan (the formal name of the temple in question) was set up as a hermitage by the noted Chinese Zen priest Qingzhuo Zhengcheng (in [...]

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Toka (Tenth Day) Ebisu is a festival with prayers for happiness and success in business that is held at Ebisu Shrines around Japan, especially in the Kansai, between 8 or 9 and 11 January. The most important shrines are Imamiya Ebisu in Osaka, Nishinomiya Ebisu in Nishinomiya near Kobe and the Ebisu Shrine near Kenninji [...]

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[Street lined with teahouses in Miyagawacho - Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
Maiko are going along the teahouses in Miyagawacho, taking notes; they are probably preparing for Hatsuyori, New year’s greetings. Miyagawacho is one of the five hanamachi or geiko quarters in Kyoto. Although less famous than Gion or Pontocho, there are quite some traditional houses left. [...]

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Today was one of those national holidays that only Japan has: Coming of Age Day (Seijin no Hi). All young people who turned twenty between 2 April last year or do so at the latest on 1 April of the current year celebrate that they are now adults and therefore allowed to smoke, drink and [...]

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“Let us sit down quietly and contemplate this garden of sand and stones,” starts the pamphlet handed out by Ryoanji. Unfortunately, nothing could be more difficult. This small temple with its exquisite stone garden, is daily overrun by hordes of tourists. Whole schools, cohorts of kids in sailor’s uniforms, march over the poor wooden floors. [...]

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This morning it was snowing in Kyoto, so I did what everyone is supposed to do under such circumstances: I hastened to the Golden Pavilion, Kinkakuji, to take the famous snow pictures. Kinkakuji took some time to reach (it is after all 40 min from Kyoto St), so when I arrived around noon the snow [...]

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This is not an advertisement for milk cacao drinks from Bourbon – although the contents of this small bottle tasted not bad. No, when buying this plastic bottle with a hot beverage in it, I was reminded of the fact that Japan is perhaps the only country in the world where hot beverages are sold [...]

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[Flowering kale - Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
When I first saw this type of planting, many years ago in China, I thought somebody had tried to be funny by stuffing a pot full of cabbages. Yes, it looks ornamental, but my first reaction is to put my teeth in those leaves, rather then feasting on them [...]

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[The wild boar is the messenger of the Go-o Shrine - Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
I visited the Go-o Shrine at least three months too early when I came here in last September. As you see on the picture above, this is the Shrine of the Wild Boar, so there could be no more fitting destination [...]

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