The season of cherry blossm

We love cherry blossom like other Japaneses.
We've being seen beautiful, wonderful, famous cherry blossom in Nara prefecture,Tohoku region, Shinsyu region, or Kyoto prefecture etc. Seeing cherry blossom is our pleasure.

So this year we went to see 淡墨桜（usuzumi-sakura, usuzumi means pale pale ink and sakura means cherry blossom) to Gifu prefecture. This cheery tree is one of the big three in Japan and it's about 1500 years old, 16.3 meters in height, around of the trunk is 9.91meters. This flower's bud is pale pink and white during full bloom and when it fall it gets pale pale ink, I heard. Sometimes a lot of petals were flied like a blizzard.

We got on a local train, Tarumi line. This line has some small lovely stations. This station  may be for few people but spring has come here.

Takayama city
We visited Takayama-city in Gifu prefecture. This city is very popular with tourist from all over the world. Though we visited this city some times it's the first time for me to enter 陣屋（Jinya).
The Tokugawa Shogunate decided to govern directly around here in 1692 and sent officers from Edo. Those officers worked  at  Jinya. The big storehouse for the annual tribute(rice) is remained. This Jinya is only public office that is remained in Japan.

                                                      The hall for meetings.

 

A sake brewery and its store. The green ball under the eaves is called Sugidama. This is made by Japanese cedar's leaf.They say that this year's sake was made by hanging a sugidama. And this green changes to brown gradually. This changing say people the ripeness condition of sake. The green ball derives from cedars in Miwa-Mountain  near the Divine of sake, Oomiwa-Shrine in Nara prefecture, they say.

Cherry blossm at Matu-river that flows near Toyama-Castle in Toyama prefecture.

Cherry blossom at Oono-temple in Nara prefecture.

 

The carved Buddha on a large rock on the other side of the river.

                Thank you for visiting, friends!

The spring in Awaji-island tempted us out.

A pink big drooping plum in Awaji-island was broad casted live in TV.

That drooping plum is biggest for private in Japan, I heard. It's about 60 years old, about 8 meters in height, a spread of the branches is about 12 meters, the round of the trunk is about 1.5 meter.

Awaji-island locates in the Inland Sea of Japan and is linked to Kansai area by The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. It takes about 2 hours by highway drive from our place in Nara. As it got warm on that Sunday, we crossed the Akashi kaikyo Bridge to hunt for the spring perfume.

The drooping plum was in the garden of a farmer's house on the height. It's wonderful,beautiful,gorgeous plum tree. The owner's been raising for long years painstakingly, I thought. The garden faces south and bathes in sun light all the daytime. A cat was yawning on the warm tiled roof, watching the beautiful drooping plum. The pastoral landscape stretched around there. Two kites were circling in the broad blue sky lazily. One of them came above me and I watched his face for the first time,thinking it looks like a little bit a owl.

A lot of people, including us, from the distant  place were visiting and shouting joy. The influence of TV news is powerful. Of course, we can enter  the garden for free by courtesy of the owner.  And Hina-Doll( dolls displayed on the Girl's Festival Day) was decorated inside , flavoring spring.

The Awaji Island is warmer than Nara. So we visited Awaji-Yume-Sajiki, expecting the full blooming of Rape Blossoms. But it's a little bit early for it.
This field faces the sea and was large, comfortable.

The Akashi kaikyo Bridge.          I felt the volume of  light in Kobe side became less than before due to effort of saving of  electricity.

The world of the monochrome

There was the heaviest snowfall in many years around Nara district.
After waking up and open the window I discovered so white snow world outside. It's very beautiful, quiet morning. Then I got a call from a friend that it's a good chance to take  snow views today.
As it's so cold I was reluctant to go outside but that  call encouraged me to go outside.

At the entrance, I hesitated which boot I should put on. I don't have long snow boot. Because we rarely have snow in Nara area. So I put on mountain-climbing boots.

While I was walking to the station, traffic was blocked with a stalled truck on a snow slope. A patrol car was crying to another cars "U-turn". I thought u-turn is tough work on the snow slope. Many cars didn't take snow-tires or chain. Very dangerous. Drivers aren't used to  the snow road.
A commuting bus also had an accident and many commuters had to walk about 2kilometers to the station.
At the station, trains had 18minutes' delay. The announce said " Due to snow, trains run slowly." Japanese trains usually seldom delay but it's no wonder today.

Heavy snow and water of thawing snow soaked  my shoes soon in Nara park.

                                                  Kofukuji-temple ,five-storied pagoda

                                                        Ukimi-do

                                                 Sarusawa-pond

                                              Kofukuji-temple, hakakudo

                                          The approach to kasuga-grand-shrine

                            Ｄeers eat leaves. So trees around here are trimmed at the level of  deer's height.

                                                           Kasuga-shrine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view seemed like monochrome painting. Black and white and stillness. The snow is only accumulating with no sound. This was a monochrome world like a Japanese ink wash painting.
Japanese ink wash painting flourished in 室町時代（Muromachi-era,1392~1573). As the Ashikaga-Shogun in Muromachi-era protected Zen, Zen culture thrived and influenced on monks who drew the ink wash painting like 雪舟（Sesyu). They depicted actual view or mountain landscape in Japan with the original way.

                                                                 Japanese ink wash painting by 雪舟

          Thank you for visiting. Have a lovely day!

The first day of spring

節分万灯篭（setubun-mantoro)------節分means time when seasons change and especially the day before the beginning of spring. 万灯篭means many lanterns.
This event has been holding from about eight hundreds years ago. About 3000 lanterns are lit at Kasuga-Grand-Shrine on the nights of 節分（setubun, on February 3rd) and お盆（obon, on August,14th and 15th).

From old days , offering light for divine has the same meaning to pray with offerings. We devote, moving our cordiality to light,I heard.

Kasuga-Grand-Shrine enshrine the Davine of Fujiwara clan originally. This event was started by donation of lanterns from Fujiwara-clan in Heian period of 8~9century.

There are a lot of stone-lanterns in the precinct.

 

Each of the patterns made by the metal outside lanterns is different because many people devoted their own original ones. There are many lanterns decorated with its heraldry or has the  name of contributors with kanji character.
This lantern was devoted by 直江兼続（he is a famous samurai in 16-17century and his armor helmet has the big character "love (愛）" in front of it.）He devoted this by his daughter's name 松。

Many stone lanterns to the approach to the shrine were lit on the night .

The next day of this event is the first day of Spring,according to the calendar. But it's pretty cold today.


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Birds came in our winter garden. My husband hung a can put fruits fragment from the branch at the near window of the dining room. So we can enjoy their figures through the window,having meals.

A white -eye are eating a persimmon that a bulbul dropped.

I am surprised his appetite. They come to here many times a day and eat greedily and drop many food. They got here as their territory.

I don't know this bird's name. It's too yellow for a sparrow.

This bird's favorite is  banana, I wonder. But this is too small for banana.

Other four kinds of birds come but their motion is too fast to take photo for me.


                                         Thank you for visiting, Dear  friends!

The event for good luck

                              I wish you happiness in 2014, my dear friends!



I visited two auspicious events at the beginning of the year.

The first,
Osaka district is a center of commerce. So many merchants or businesspeople especially visit Ebisu-Shrine to get good luck, fortune on the 10th of January.
Ebisu-Shrines enshrine God Ebisu.
God ebisu is one of seven gods in Japan and have a fishing rod in the right hands, holding a big sea bream under the left arm. This god was a god of fishing in the old days. But after commerce started developing in the Middle Ages people began to believe as god of prosperity of business,too.

I visited Saraki-Shrine in Nara district that enshrine God Ebisu.

 

These women are called Fuku-Musume(Fuku means good luck, Musume means girl) and they attach ornaments to a small bamboo and shake bells to call happiness for visitor. In this shrine, they usually work for a big company but they volunteer on this day. How beautiful today's Fuku-Musumes are!





The second,
舞楽始式（The first dance of the year) in Kasuga-Grand-Shrine.

The dances came from the Asian Continent in 7or 8 century and Japan own dances have being preserved. This tradition were handed down three organizations where  are in Kyoto district,Nara district,Osaka district.
Today's dance was dedicated by Nara's organization.



        胡飲酒（konjyu) The king of the country of Hu dances intoxicated to alcohol, I heard.

　　　振鉾三節（enbu-sansetu) dance for praying that people live in security, 三節means honoring the heaven, the earth, the spirit ,I heard.

       長保楽（chobouraku)

                                      Thank you for coming.