Blessed Piper

Yes, it's him again. A Pied Piper of little boy riding on a "SLUG". When I went to say "Hi" to him, I saw him surrounded by his friends, pigeons. Well, quite a lot of them, I have to say. I was speechless then and forgot my greeting to him.

If you want to know him, please click here and there.

    

As usual, this is a Sky Watch Friday, Looking at the Sky on Friday, and Foto Friday entry.

     

"V"isiting A Shrine At Night

Vertical dragon supplying water for visitors at Futaarayama Shrine in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture. The shrine was deserted when I visited there.


This is a Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Black and White Wednesday, and ABC Wednesday entry. V is for visit and more.

     

Winter Butterfly

Photographed at Ashikaga Flower Park (足利フラワーパーク) in Tochigi Prefecture.  This is a winter wonderland worth paying 600 JPY (around $6/ adult) for the entrance fee and photographing 1.3 million of lights that are distributed throughout the park (88000 m²!).

Christmas illumination takes place from October 30 to January 23.


This is a That's my world, Ruby Tuesday, and Shutter Day entry. The theme is "Merry".

            

Night Riders

Photographed in Utsunomiya downtown.

This is a Black and White Weekend, Weekend Reflections and Shadow Shot Sunday entry.

            

Have a safe ride and a wonderful weekend.

His Mission During December

Do you remember this little boy? A Pied Piper of little boy riding on a "SLUG". Last month, I eyewitnessed his everyday mission of making clouds.

Click image to to see his everyday mission. That's one of my favorite photos.

However, it's been sunny lately and I wondered how he's been doing...

So I went to see him today. Everything was clear. In December, his mission is to make soap bubbles of light illumination after dusk!!! No wonder it's been so sunny and that we have illuminations all over.

Utsunomiya central park has a Christmas light-up during this month (from 16:00- 18:00).


This is an entry for Show Me Japan.

And as usual, this is also a Sky Watch Friday, Looking at the Sky on Friday, Aspire Photo Challenge, and Photo Friday entry. This week's challenge is "Tranquil".

            

"U"ndisturbed "U"pstream of Ryuzu Waterfall

It is located between Ryuzu waterfall (very popular) and this place where very few people go.


As some of you probably noticed, it was photographed with my old but lovely film camera, Nikon F801S with a 15mm Fisheye lens (Kodak Super Gold 400 film).

This is a Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, and ABC Wednesday entry. U is for "U"ndisturbed and "U"pstream.

                

Unidentified Fixed Object

Found in my town, Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture. As far as I remember, this weird object made its debut this winter. I haven't seen it before. Or Am I a Space Cadet?

At 10-15 minute intervals, every single light source starts to twinkle. They keep changing colors (red, green, and blue, for instance). That means, if you photograph with a relatively longer exposure, the color of the light becomes plain white!!!

After the warning announcement (computer voice hysterically repeating "Steaming is about to begin." several times), you experience "Close Encounter of the Third Kind, 2010 edition"!!!

Exciting, isn't it?

This is a That's My World entry.

Shaking Bonten

Photographed at Bonten festival. Old dude shaking a 17-meter gigantic bamboo mop with red-and-white pompom like there is no tomorrow.

One more photo of this festival was posted here. If you are curious about this festival, please visit our other blog.


This is a Ruby Tuesday and Moody Monday entries. The theme is "traditional".

        

Lighting Up The Castle

Almost every night we have a light up at the Utsunomiya Castle (宇都宮城). The original castle was totally destroyed during the Boshin War (戊辰戦争) in 1868. Part of the castle was reconstructed in 2008 and in the area flanked by the moat there is now a park.

This is a Weekend Reflections entry.

Everlasting View

It's a view from the Italian embassy villa by Lake Chuzenji. It was built in 1928 and was a summer Villa of the Italian Ambassadors until 2008. This view (from the 2nd floor) is the same one that successive Italian Ambassadors and their guests were enjoying during their (long) summer vacation.

Since Tochigi Prefecture purchased the Villa from the Republic of Italy, it became a Memorial Park open to the public. It's free of charge, but you are encouraged to donate around $1 for the maintenance of the building. I did so when I went there.

It is open from April 1 to November 30.

This is an entry for Show Me Japan.

And of course, this is also for Black and White Weekend and Scenic Sunday entries.

        

Have a wonderful weekend.

Traffic At Night

It was photographed while a bus was passing me by in my neighborhood. It was full moon that night.

This is a Sky Watch Friday and Looking at the Sky on Friday entries.

 

Rusted Donkey

Found in Takamatsu city downtown, Kagawa Prefecture. I could not help photographing this brownish and rusted dude. I assume that it was made by local artists once upon a time, but how come it looks so sad and exhausted now?

This is a Thursday Challenge entry. The theme is "Brown".

"T"ragic Falls

In 1903, the stunning beauty of Kegon falls (華厳の滝) in Nikko had lured an 18-year-old high school student to jump. Several others have followed him since. Because of that the waterfall has became notorious as the place to commit suicide. It's utterly "t"ragic.

But now it's SAFE!

It's no longer possible to get to the top of the waterfall. Rather, the entrance fee of 530 JPY (around $5 for using elevator) is charged to watch the beauty of the waterfall from the other side. This waterfall is one of the "must-go-and-shoot" places for "t"ourists. However, Nikko natives seldom visit this famous place (unless they have guests visiting), due to the entrance AND parking ($3) fees.
In a month or so, the waterfall will be covered with snow. This photo was taken in January 2010.

This is for Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, and ABC Wednesday entries. T is for "T"ragic.

         

                                    

Winter Illumination

During Christmas season, you can find light-ups and illuminations taking place almost everywhere. So I bundle myself up with layers of clothing and photograph. In order to have the biggest and round "bokeh" (= blur), the aperture of my lens is always the widest. This was taken at Nasu Harmony Hall in Otawara city, Tochigi Prefecture, sometime in December 2009.

This is a Ruby Tuesday and That's my world entries.