Sacred Tree

The trees are called Sakaki (榊) - literally Sacred Tree in Japanese (Kanji/漢字), which are indispensable for Shinto ritual ceremonies. Branches are cut down from trees and decorated with shide (紙垂) strips of washi paper (Japanese paper), silk, or cotton, to serves as Tamagushi (玉串).

Dedicated Tamagushi in front of portable shrine

At any occasion of Shinto ritual ceremonies, Tamagushi is dedicated to a Shinto deity at Shrines and/or mikoshi (portable shrine). The top part of the branch is pointing towards you.

Note the orientation of Tamagushi.

The first B&W photo was taken with a Sigma DP1s and the rest of colors - with a Nikon D200 at Futaarayama shrine (二荒山神社), Utsunomiya city.

This is a Black and White Weekend, Shadow Shot Sunday #140, Scenic Sunday 131, and Photo Friday entry. This week's challenge for Photo Friday is "Tree".

     

Have a wonderful weekend.

Komine Castle

Komine Castle (白河小峰城), in Shirakawa city, Fukushima Prefecture, is one of the 100 famous Japanese castles. It was built in A.D. 1340 by Chikatomo YUKI (結城親朝). In 1868 during the Boshin War (戊辰戦争). the Castle was destroyed in the local battle called Battle of Aizu (会津戦争).

After the battle, this poor castle looked like the photo below...

Ruined Komine Castle (Image from Wiki)

After the war, what was left was the moat and part of the stone walls. The turret and the Gozenmon gate (御前門) were rebuilt in 1991 and 1994, respectively.


This is an entry for Show Me Japan Vol 1, Issue 10. If you want to see nice photos taken in Japan, don't forget to visit.

This is also an entry for Sky Watch Friday.

 

Currently Under Construction

No No No, the title does not mean the current status of this blog...

Do you remember this photo below?

This is part 2 of this construction that took place in our neighborhood.


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

         

           

Have a wonderful weekend.

Abatsumara

I am pleased to announce that, finally, this is the last entry (part 4) of the Buddhist Guardian series. I am sure that all of you guys are relieved to hear that.

He is "The last Statue Standing", named Abatsumara (阿跋摩羅), one of the four Guardians at Yashamon Gate (夜叉門) of Taiyuin (大猷院) at the World Heritage site in Nikko city, Tochigi Prefecture. Taiyuin is a Buddhist temple at which the 3rd Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu Tokugawa (徳川家光) is worshipped.

Abatsumara is not as explicit as Kendara, but more than Bidara and Umarokya. Like Kendara, his knees are naked, whereas in the case of Bidara and Umarokya, their knees have companion kneepads of catfish and elephant, respectively.

He holds a golden stick in his right hand as a weapon and his left forefinger is pointing upward (toward heaven?). I am not sure of the significance of this pose...

Let's take a closer look at him.

Close-up view of his face

Close-up view of his waist

   











His orange hair is all standing up. Unlike others, he has no fierce fangs but shining white teeth. Well, his eyebrows need to be trimmed... Note the skin of white tiger around his waist. It's a unique feature of him. He does not have a pair of shoes.

He's a guardian of the "East".

Before ending this series, I would like to mention the background, which is carved with flowers. Can you tell what these flowers are?

Lower one is covered with Goldl!!!

They are all Peonies that appear behind all of the four statues. I am not certain why peony was chosen. Anyway, based on that, Yashamon Gate is also called Botanmon gate (牡丹門; Botan - Peony, Mon - Gate).

Tokugawa Clan's Emblem

Can you see the emblem above? I know it's hard to find but it is the emblem (家紋) of the Tokugawa clan (徳川氏).

All right. That's it!

Thanks for your patience.

This is a Alphabe-Thursday entry. "N" is for Nikko.

If you haven't seen his friends, be prepared to be thrilled!

Umarokya

Bidara

Kendara

"Z"ippy Kendara

Part 3 of the Buddhist Guardian series.

His name is Kendara (健陀羅), one of the four Guardians at Yashamon Gate (夜叉門) of Taiyuin (大猷院) at the World Heritage site in Nikko city, Tochigi Prefecture. Taiyuin is a Buddhist temple at which the 3rd Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu Tokugawa (徳川家光) is worshipped.

Kendara is the most explicit figure among the four Guardians there. His upper body is mostly naked, he does not protect knees with funny animal pads, either... He does so probably because he is proud of his fairly pale skin! I like his shoes, though:)

He is armed with a golden sledge hammer.

Let's take a closer look at him.

Close-up of his fierce face.

He has wavy orange hair and brown/orange fangs. Note the unusual orientation of his fangs. They are growing upwards!!! Don't ask me why... So horrifying! I like his eyebrows, though...

Although he is composed of terrifying body parts (masculine shape, fangs, facial expression, weapon), he looks somehow comical (I agree with you, Miss Becky!!! Thanks for your thoughtful comment on Bidara post:). This is probably due to his "voguing" and zippy pose!

He is a guardian of the "West".

If you are curious about his friends, please say "Hi" to them;

Umarokya

Bidara

White Wednesday

Oops, last photo above is the badge for White Wednesday meme. Please visit Kathleen's blog to see more white photos. Oh yes, this is also a ABC Wednesday. "Z" is for Zippy. Please explore more "Z" entries.

Bidara

Part 2 of Buddhist Guardian series.

His name is Bidara (毘陀羅), one of the four Guardians at Yashamon Gate (夜叉門) of Taiyuin (大猷院) at the World Heritage site in Nikko city, Tochigi Prefecture. Taiyuin is a Buddhist temple at which the 3rd Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu Tokugawa (徳川家光) is worshipped.

Hi my name is Umarokya! Click on me to enlarge.

He is as scary as Umarokya (烏摩勒伽), who appeared in the previous entry. Bidara has red skin, curly brown hair,  sharp gold fangs, shining gold stick in his right hand, and his left hand is ready to punch your face. Also note that he has catfish heads for knee pads. He wears slippers with the same color as his knee pads... Is it made of catfish skin??? That I am not sure... One of his roles is to guard the "South", whereas Umarokya is guarding the "North"


This is a Ruby Tuesday entry.

Umarokya

Umarokya (烏摩勒伽), which I think one of the Buddhist Guardians, is one of the four Guardians at Yashamon Gate (夜叉門) of Taiyuin (大猷院) at the World Heritage site in Nikko city, Tochigi Prefecture. Taiyuin is a Buddhist temple at which the 3rd Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu Tokugawa (徳川家光) is worshipped.

This scary macho guy in the photo has curly orange hair, sharp fangs, an arrow in his right hand, and an edgy sword in the left one. Also note that he has elephant heads for knee pads, which is scary enough to guess his height!!!

At shrines, you can see a wooden arrow called Hamaya (破魔矢: literally "demon breaking arrow"). Actually the arrow that he is holding in his right hand is the origin of Hamaya! Yes, that Shinto military weapon comes from Buddhism! Well, back in the old days, there weren't any such distinctions between the two religions in Japan.

At Taiyuin when you proceed from Yashamon Gate, you will find a Haiden Oratory (拝殿) where you get a lecture in Japanese only (sorry for the inconvenience for you guys). At the end of the lecture delivered by Buddhist monk there, you are encouraged to buy Hamaya made of metal. It's a Taiyuin original, which is cool. I think that this is a very smart strategy because by the time the lecture is over (15 min or so), I am sure that your legs are too numb to stand up for a while. Then you are surrounded by Buddhist monks, giving you a big smile, with expensive Hamaya Arrows in their right hands. Just like the blue Umarokya statue in this picture (but not a real sharp sword in their left hands)! I bed you that they will do their best to sell. Maybe they speak to you in English or your native language:)))


Part 2 of Buddha guardian series is "Bidara"(毘陀羅)

Hi my name is Bidara. Please click on me to get me the hell out of this tiny frame.

This is a Blue Monday and That's my world entry.

           

Cafeteria At Night

No tricks were applied to this bizarre image; no multiple exposures, no art filters; no fancy artworks, no nothing, except I converted it into black and white, adjusted tone curves (to get closer to what I saw), and shrinked the image size to upload.

This is a cafeteria at Nasunogahara Harmony Hall (那須野が原ハーモニーホール) in Otawara City, Tochigi Prefecture. I was outside of the building and photographed the cafeteria through a thick glass wall.

If you want to see more photos taken at this place, please click the images below:

         

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

                

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mt. Toyama Summit

Photographed on the summit of Mt. Toyama (外山), Nikko city. Bishamondo Hall (毘沙門堂), that is owned by Rinnoji Temple (輪王寺), is located at the summit. A bunch of old statues is waiting for you behind the Hall. And a fresh air, too!

Actually the photo of the entrance to this mountain was the first entry of this blog!!! And this is also the 70th post on this blog.
   
     Click on the photo to enlarge.

As the sign says, it's 880m above the sea level. It took me 30 min to climb to the top of this mountain from the shrine gate (entrance) that is located at approximately 560m. Note that I took my camera bag, water, and tripod with me. Altogether it weighed around 15kg.
 
This is an entry for Show Me Japan Vol 1, Issue 8. If you want to see more nice photos taken in Japan, please be sure to visit!!!

As usual, this is also a Sky Watch Friday and Foto Friday entry. The theme of this week is "fresh".