a fuzzy pic, but here are some sibs practicing baseball, which the folks in Fukuoka love.
now this gal shows my level of athletic prowess!
bride on her wedding day in Fukuoka, Japanwalker in Fukuoka, wearing mask; despite lots of bicycle use, pollution and pollen result in lots of masks.performer at a local fair in Fukuoka behind the City Hallwe saw lots of characters like this one while in Japan – very entertaining and fun to watchrequests for prayers at the Buddhist temple in Shimizu, JapanAt Kamakura (outside Tokyo) we saw the Great Buddha, and young ladies in traditional dress who joined others worshipping before Buddhaa monk at Kamakura lights incense before the Great Buddhamore young ladies in traditional dress at Kamakurathe traditional dress calls for lovely flowers in the hairthe Great Buddha himself, at Kamakura, Japana screen we saw at the Neputa Village, in Otaru, Japan. This is a village of traditional woodworkers, silk and embroidery artists, makers of parade floats, lacquer wood artisans and othersthe Japanese make beautiful lanterns and this one we enjoyed at a Sake brewery in Otaru, Japanwe visited another Buddhist temple (this one is Aomori, Japan), and we saw that the statues were wearing red, as a symbol of joyIn Aomori we saw the Hirosako Castle, which housed the powerful Shogunate for many years (leader of the Samurai class); weeping cherry trees were just about to bloom near the castle. We also saw lots of wooden bridges over moats surrounding the castle – easier to burn them if invaders were approaching!a banner for the Shizuoka Prefecture Museum of Art, where we saw Japanese impressionist paintings, lovely screens and wood blocks, and a very extensive collection of Rodin sculptures2 ThinkersRodin’s Gates of Hellanother Rodin – totally resonates with how we feel sometimes!
Rodin’s Burghers of Calais – one view (there are 57 castings of this sculpture in existence)
Decent Internet access has returned now that we have left Japanese waters. We still don’t know exactly what the problem was. Anyway, leaving that aside, we lucked out again, this time missing by about 2 days the earthquakes that struck southern Japan. We have lots of photos from Japan, including shots taken in Aomori, Otaru, Fukuoka and, of course, Tokyo. Some are posted here.
Joe
Young Lovers in Japanese GardenJapanese Women in KimonosWelcome to Tokyo: A view from the shipTsurugaoka Hachimangu ShrineTrader in the ParkTokyo as seen from the pier on a cloudy dayTokyo from the Pier at NightShrineShinto Shrine in Kamakura, JapanSaki Wall at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu ShrineGiant Buddha, Kamakura JapanEntrance to ShrineBuddhist CemeteryBuddhist Cemetery, Aomori, JapanBridge to Japanese GardensBoy Playing by Waterfall Pool in Tenjin ParkBox OfficeBuddhist CemeteryApproaching the Rainbow Bridge on a Cloudy Day
