Posts Tagged: japan
October 13th, 2007
Oops. I kind of forgot that I put up these photos last week. It has been a busy week after all (and they just keep coming!).
So, in case you haven’t already seen my photos of Harajuku, wander on over and have a look.
This Tokyo district is home to the majority of Japan’s weird trend setters. Scores of boutiques serve up every kind of fashion imaginable. Bands line up on the sidewalks and blast their music into the streets. Flea markets cover the ground with clothes of all types. Pompadoured, leather-pant clad rockabilly dancers do the twist in the park. Goth teens feign indifference to the photographers that give them the attention they crave.
Harajuku is a cornucopia of people watching delights, but if you tire of the weird and wild, nearby Yoyogi Park offers tranquility and respite with quiet lakes and lovely picnic spots in the woods.
But it’s hard to get tired of the vibrance of Tokyo’s youth showing off their creativity and earnest yearning for individuality in an frequently conformist society.
Check out the photos here.
September 16th, 2007
I’ve been homesick lately, but strangely, not for my actual hometown of Calgary. Instead, I’ve been longing for some time spent in one of my second homes: Japan. I think it may just be itchy feet longing for someplace exotic.
To scratch that itch, I have just uploaded a gallery of photos of the Meiji Jingu Shrine in Tokyo. Surrounded by the modern weirdness and teen-oriented shopping of the Harajuku district, this temple is an oasis of traditional Japan.
The shrine is reached by walking a long, wide path through the perpetually-green Yoyogi park. Enormous torii gates signal your imminent arrival to the shrine but suggest a building far more grand than the austere and low shrine. These torii gates are absolutely huge and their scale suggests something equally large awaits.
Though this isn’t the case, the shrine isn’t a disappointment. Though it isn’t an old building, it successfully pretends to be. It was built with traditional techniques and materials that make it fit in with any of Japan’s ancient temples.
Being Tokyo, you can’t expect to find it vacant of visitors, but part of the charm lies in the people watching that can be done there. On weekends, the Meiji Shrine is a popular location for weddings and if you visit, you may be lucky to catch a glimpse of a couple in traditional dress tying the knot.
Photos of the Meiji Shrine here.
July 29th, 2006
On my last full day here in Bangkok, I have another couple sets of photos to present to you. I have just uploaded a couple more groups of photos of temples in Kyoto: Sanjusangendo and Ginkakuji.
Sanjusangendo is home to 1001 human-sized Buddha images inside Japan’s longest wooden building. Unfortunately, photos are prohibited inside the temple. As it turns out, photos of the inside of the temple are also prohibited from the outside of the temple. I found this out after I snapped a shot through an open doorway and one of the caretakers promptly shut the door in front of me. Thus, I only have one shot of the Buddhas and it only gives a tiny sample of the grandeur inside.
Ginkakuji is referred to as the silver pavilion despite not being silver at all. Long ago, plans were in place to have it covered in silver to make it more like its cousin across town, Ginkakuji, the golden pavilion. That goal was never reached but the building’s wooden frame still retains its metallic moniker. It stands in front of a pool, carefully-sculpted zen gardens and lush hillside forests.
July 25th, 2006
While living and working Japan, my office at the Board of Education in Ichinoseki planned a trip to Kanazawa. Both Sarah and I were invited along, so we took the chance to go see an area of the country that wasn’t especially accessible from our northern position.
The big draw of Kanazawa is the garden of Kenrokuen which has been labelled one of Japan’s three most beautiful gardens. Yes, the Japanese like to make lists like this. But, in this case, maybe they got it right. Of all the gardens I visited in Japan, this was definitely towards the top of the list.
On our first evening, we partied with the folks from our section and I was treated to my favourite bit of dialogue ever heard from my supervisor. As we were leaving, he and his best buddy at work were the last ones out of the room with me. With arms around each other and faces flushed red with the evening’s sake, they turned to me and my supervisor said rather seriously in his meagre English, “We… are drunk.”
He then proceeded to break into song, “We love love love love drinking!” while doing an uncoordinated dance all while never letting go of his friend’s shoulder (a wise idea since I’m sure it was about the only thing keeping him upright).
The next day, I woke absurdly early to walk over to Kanazawa Castle to catch the morning light then hustle back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group to part together for the day’s activities.
And yes, I got to be a Japanese tourist. On a precise schedule, we rode through town never lingering too long at our stops and being suitably impressed at each site along the way. Happily, we had some extra time at Kenrokuen and it was just enough time for the afternoon’s rains to momentarily so that I could take some photos of the gardens.
I would have gladly stayed longer, but of course, that’s just not how you do things in Japan.
July 22nd, 2006
I’ve added yet another batch of photos to the gallery. Photos of Kiyomizudera temple in Kyoto are now available for your viewing pleasure. It’s both interesting architecturally and ritualistically. Countless locals visit this temple to worship, to find luck and to taste the water that pours from a nearby spring. The long lineups to sample the spring suggest that the rumoured healing properties of the water may be worth a substantial wait.
July 18th, 2006
The photo processing machine keeps rolling on here in Bangkok. I have again opted for some images from Japan with some photos of the Odaiba district. This series of man-made islands in Tokyo bay features futuristic architecture that will make you feel like you are in a video game while the Rainbow Bridge arcs across the horizon back to Tokyo’s the glow of distant Tokyo. I only visited during the evening, but that is when I imagine Odaiba is at its most futuristically surreal.
July 15th, 2006
Just as with my photos of the Petronas Towers, I noticed that my photos of Tokyo’s Sensoji temple were not representative of a few visits I had made there. I’ve stayed in the Asakusa area and walking over to the temple with camera in hand is a great way to spend an evening. It may not be the most architecturally ornate or elegant of Japan’s temples, but the size of the gates, the iconic, five-story pagoda, and the active visitors of the temple make it a great shooting location.
July 11th, 2006
I was only able to spend a few short days in Osaka when I was travelling through Japan. It seemed, even more than Tokyo, the very definition of ‘urban.’ Many people have a vision of Japan as a futuristic, modern city that covers virtually every inch of the archipelago and if they only visited Osaka, they would be justified in believing that.
The photos I have uploaded include images of the Osaka Skyline, the Dotonbori Shopping and Entertainment District and The Umeda Sky Building. When time permits, I also have images from Osaka castle and Osaka Aquarium that I intend to process and upload as well, so stay tuned.
And as always, a few samples:
July 8th, 2006
A few new sets of images from Japan are now up in the gallery section. This time it is a bit of old and new with photos from two Kyoto Shrines (the Yasaka Shrine and the Heian Shrine) as well as the brightly-lit Ginza shopping district in Tokyo.
And of course, a few examples of what to expect in the galleries:
July 4th, 2006
As I mentioned in my previous post, instead of being busy exploring Bangkok (I told you, I have plenty of time here!), I have been busy working on processing some of my older images. And perhaps it’s just because Japan is still fresh in my mind, or perhaps it’s just due to my fondness for the country, but I have decided to upload some images from the country I called home a year ago.
I have uploaded images from the Okunoin cemetery on Mount Koya (Koyasan) as well as photos of Himeji Castle. Okunoin is a magical place where ghosts must certainly be happy to roam. It’s a mystical place and is either my favourite or second favopurite cemetery that I’ve visited. (I know some people may find it weird that I like cemeteries, but really, some of them are just beautiful.)
Himeji Castle is a great remnant of Japan’s feudal past. It has survived the ages and countless disasters to remain towering over the city of Himaji.
Here is a couple of samples:
Previous Posts
Most Popular Tags on dsphotographic.com:
Weblog
