Posted in Gardens, Nature, Tokyo on Jun 15th, 2008 3 Comments »
One year in June I wanted to see irises in bloom - Japan’s famous shobu, sung about in poetry and depicted in paintings and ukiyo-e. I opted for Horikiri Shobuen in the northern part of Tokyo, in what proved to be an eyesore neighborhood, but when I finally reached the garden, I felt happy seeing […]
Posted in History, Museums, Nature, Religion, Temples, Travel on Apr 14th, 2008 2 Comments »
In the Tama Hills in the western part of Saitama Prefecture stands an old temple famous for the valuable Buddhist scriptures it possesses. Now only a remnant of a much larger complex, the temple also boasts an Eleven-Headed Kannon. When I visit, the doors of the altar cabinet happen to be wide open and the […]
Posted in Festivals, Kobe, Nature on Apr 11th, 2008 No Comments »
What is the best sakura (cherry blossom) viewing spot in the wider Kobe area?
The best spot to enjoy both the sakura themselves and the hanami people engaged in viewing them is Shukugawa Park, in the western part of Nishinomiya, which was included in the top of the “Hundred Sakura Viewing Places” selected in 1990. The […]
Posted in Nature, Osaka on Apr 3rd, 2008 No Comments »
[Magnolias near Osaka Business Park. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
On the banks of the Neyagawa River near Osaka Business Park (Kyobashi Station) stands a row of magnolia trees which were in full bloom last week. They do not last long, so yesterday during lunch time I hastened out with my camera cell phone to get a […]
Posted in Gardens, Kyoto, Nature, Temples on Apr 3rd, 2008 No Comments »
[Weeping cherry in the Kamigamo Shrine, Kyoto. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
This magnificent weeping cherry (shidare-zakura) called “Gosho-zakura” stands in the grounds of the Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto. When I saw it last Monday, it was almost fully in bloom, so this week you can still enjoy it!
Read more about the Kamigamo Shrine in my […]
Posted in History, Kobe, Museums, Nature, Temples, Travel on Mar 28th, 2008 2 Comments »
Although I had been living for a year in Kobe, I had not yet made my way to that part of the city where the hot springs of Arima are located. There was no need to play the tourist, I thought, but last weekend curiosity drove me if not to the baths themselves, at least […]
Posted in Festivals, Gardens, Japan, Kyoto, Nature, Tokyo on Mar 26th, 2008 1 Comment »
What is this year’s sakura timetable? You will find the best English guide here, at the Japan Metereological Agency!
But don’t leave just yet, as here are some more interesting sakura links:
Stories from Japan Navigator:
Sakura, sakura - some literary associations from the cherry front
One of the best sakura viewing spots in Kyoto: Nishiyama
An even better […]
Posted in Festivals, Japan, Nature, Writing on Mar 24th, 2008 No Comments »
Look here for a sakura (cherry blossom) timetable!
As spring finally draws near, the first warm days bring a certain giddiness. And expectation. The great “sakura (cherry blossom) wave” is about to roll over our heads, enveloping us in its pinkish extremeties… sake and sakura, what better combination could there be?
[Sakura. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
The sakura […]
Posted in Animation, Book, Food, Japan, Manga, Nature, Web on Mar 22nd, 2008 No Comments »
As the International Herald tribune reports, foreign minister Komura Masahiko has appointed Doraemon as Japan’s first cartoon ambassador. The robot cat, who is especially popular in Asia, promised:
Through my cartoons, I hope to convey to people abroad what ordinary Japanese people think, our lifestyles and what kind of future we want to build.
Perhaps the […]
Posted in Art, Culture, Food, Japan, Nature, Religion, Web on Mar 21st, 2008 No Comments »
The Mitsukoshi Department Store has bought a small Buddhist wood statue carved by famous Kamakura-period master Unkei at Christie’s in New York for $12.8 million. The Dainichi Nyorai (Cosmic Buddha) figure brought in more than ten times the estimated price - this is the highest price ever offered for any Buddhist artwork in the world […]
Posted in Japan, Nature, Technology, Web on Mar 15th, 2008 No Comments »
Translator’s Tools is a new blog by Gururaj Rao that conveniently introduces tools to make translation from and to the Japanese easier. In his most recent post, he introduces the Glova Bilingual Database, a contextual database/dictionary that will not only be of help to translators, but to anyone studying Japanese.
Asiajin is a blog on webservices […]
Posted in Nature, Photography, Religion, Writing on Mar 12th, 2008 2 Comments »
The lotus is my favorite flower and although the ponds are still empty in this early season, I happened to come across these lotus pictures when reorganizing my slides last weekend. They were taken in Hokongoin Temple in Kyoto, which boasts a fabulous lotus pond in summer.
[Lotus (Hokongoin Temple, Kyoto). Photo by Ad Blankestijn]
I […]
Posted in Book, Gardens, Nature, Review, Tokyo on Mar 5th, 2008 No Comments »
Tokyo and flowers - that may not be the first association springing up in your mind when thinking about the Japanese metropolis. The metropolitan government seems to be in the race to cover every square inch of the city with concrete before, say, the year 2010. In some places, the houses and flats have been […]
Posted in Festivals, Gardens, Museums, Nature, Tokyo, Travel on Mar 1st, 2008 2 Comments »
I have given you directions to the plum groves of Ogose, deep in Saitama and a long haul from Tokyo. But there is another great (or even greater) plum viewing area much closer to the metropolis: the Yoshino Baigo Park in Ome, which is part of Tokyo itself.
[Yoshino Baigo, Ome. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
Ome […]
Posted in Festivals, Museums, Nature, Travel on Feb 24th, 2008 No Comments »
In the past (let us say, the Heian-period) the Japanese preferred the plum blossom, strong as it is in the cold weather and possessing a fine fragrance, to the weaker cherry blossom that rains down at the slightest gust of wind. Later, Saigyo with his madness for pink sadness changed it all…
[Ogose Plum grove, […]
Posted in Gardens, Museums, Nature on Feb 20th, 2008 No Comments »
Thanks to its balmy climate (and the fumes from its hot springs), the plum trees in Atami are among the first to bloom in the wider Tokyo area. So for early flowering trees visit this resort town and after tearing yourself loose from the steaming baths, head for the area just west of the town […]
Posted in Culture, Japan, Nature, Travel on Feb 15th, 2008 2 Comments »
Are you fond of smells? I remember how in Proust certain smells evoke long-forgotten memories, and indeed, the smell of freshly mown grass or hay reminds me of the long and lazy summers of youth.
Although I did not live in Japan as a child, I find that certain Japanese fragrances evoke atavistic memories which […]
Posted in Kobe, Nature, Photography on Jan 30th, 2008 No Comments »
Via Furoshiki Blog my attention was called to the New York Public Library Digital Collections, which contains many old photographs from 19th c. Japan.
This is an albumen print of the famous Nunobiki Falls in Kobe. It shows the lower one, the Medaki, situated immediately behind the Shinkobe Shinkansen Station.
It is interesting to see […]
Posted in Culture, Japan, Nature on Jan 12th, 2008 No Comments »
It may be strange to be writing about flowers in the heart of winter, but Japan has flowers for every season - in winter the narcissus breaking through the cold earth, or the deep red camellias with their shining green leaves against the snow. So that is how the hanagoyomi, the floral calendar, was born, […]
Posted in Nature on Dec 18th, 2007 No Comments »
In the front garden of Rengeji, in north-eastern Kyoto, a beautiful gingko tree showed the splendor of its yellow foliage.
As I wrote in my article on Zenpukuji Temple, the gingko or as it is called in English, “Maidenhair tree,” is a strange tree. It is prehistoric and has not changed in its 200 million-year history. […]
Posted in Nature on Apr 4th, 2007 No Comments »
There was a sudden spell of rain today, with cold air, after which the sun came through again. That caused a beautiful rainbow to appear in the sky over Osaka:
[Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
