Saturday, May 24, 2014

Beautiful Japan as I photographed in 1967-68

  Kinkakuji--The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan

This is my favorite photo that I took in Japan. Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan and the outside walls of this building really are covered with gold.

At the time of the tsunami near Sendai, Japan, we were inundated with disastrous images of Japan, so I thought it would be nice to show you what Sendai looked like before this disaster.
In the summer of 1968, my companion and I actually ran in between these beautiful fields as we went to visit an orphanage on the outskirts of Sendai. I keep praying that those children survived the tsunami last Friday.
I took this photo from the train as I approached Sendai when I was transferred there. It was fields like these or perhaps these very fields that we all saw flooded by the tsunami on March 11. Pain hits my heart every time I see the video of the flood waters washing away these tidy farms and homes with people inside.

    Looking down the street from my first apartment when I lived in Japan.


Inside the gate to my apartment in Sendai, Japan





Inside the tatami room of my first apartment. This room is covered with woven straw mats called tatamis. It functions as a living room by day and a bedroom by night. Below is a man making the tatami mats. Look at his muscles.


A tall 5 tier Pagoda at Ikegami Park in south Tokyo at cherry blossom time      


The Buddist shrine that is inside of the tall pagoda which is pictured above


 People eating under the cherry blossoms at Ikegami Park in Tokyo 



The backyard garden of a home next to the Tokyo South Branch Chapel. It looked like theGarden of Eden, but I didn't have the right light to have you really see it in the photo.

                          
        A stone lantern at a shrine in Kyoto, Japan

    
 An old home at the entrance of Ikegami Park in south Tokyo. 
              
              A modern mansion in Yokohama, Japan in 1967
                  
 Below is the Guard house at one corner of the Emperor's palace in Tokyo. Notice the moat that encircles the entire palace grounds.

                  
                 One of the many ornate buildings at Nikko, Japan

                     
 Everything is to beautifully ornate at Nikko, I felt like I was in fairyland. They say that Nikko even makes the Gods smile. Below is the entrance gate to Nikko.
I wrote this post several years ago, and forgot to post it. I have so many things that I want to record, I think I will start blogging again.