Japan – Mari's Travels with her Camera

Life in Colour 24 -Red

By: maristravels August 31, 2021August 30, 2021

Japan, photo challenges, UncategorizedJapan, Japan in Red, Japanese Temples13 Comments

Connected to Jude’s Life in Colour here. It’s difficult to stop when you find so many reds but I think I shall have to stop now. These are the last few towards this month’s red challenge, and we are still in Japan.

Life in Colour 24 – Red

By: maristravels August 31, 2021August 30, 2021

Japan, photo challenges, UncategorizedJapan and the bomb, Japan in Red, Japanese TemplesLeave a Comment

Linked to Jude’s Life in Colour here: As promised yesterday, here are a few more Reds from Japan.

Life in Colour 24 – Red

By: maristravels August 30, 2021August 30, 2021

Japan, photo challengesJapan, Japanese wedding, Pictures in red5 Comments

Connected to Jude’s Life in Colour here. Just two more days before the end of this month’s challenge and I offer some reds from Japan. I rather belatedly remembered that it’s a country where red is a favourite colour. It’s taken me ages to downsize them as I seem to have lost my ‘Optimize button…

Hachikō – Tokyo’s Iconic Dog

By: maristravels May 23, 2021May 23, 2021

Japan, TOKYO SIGHTSEEING, UncategorizedAkita dogs, Animal loyalty, Japan's famous dog, Sightseeing in Tokyo, Tokyo's Hachiko the dog who waited18 Comments

I’d like to set the scene as Maria in Sound of Music suggests “Let’s start at the very beginning” but maybe it’s better if I tell you first that this is Hachikō, the most famous dog in Japan, and that people come from all over Japan to visit his statue in central Tokyo. We tourists…

Among my (Japanese) Souveneirs

By: maristravels April 16, 2018July 23, 2020

Japan, UncategorizedArt, eating in Japan, Food, History, Japanese art, Ryokans, travel14 Comments

Having decided that sentimentality has to give way to practicality when one has downsized and lacks room, I am making strenuous efforts to clear away the bits and bobs that one brings back from one’s travels. I’m not talking the sort of souvenir that one puts on the sideboard or has pride of place in…

The Bamboo Forest of Kyoto

By: maristravels November 18, 2017

Japan, Uncategorizedbamboo forest, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, japanese bamboo, Kyoto, magical atmosphere, nature12 Comments

If you’ve seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon you will have gained some idea of what this place is about: I found it totally magical.

TOKYO’S FAMOUS FISH MARKET

By: maristravels November 19, 2016July 24, 2020

Japan, UncategorizedJapan and food, Tokyo's fish market, Tsukdji wholesle Fish Market in Tokyo3 Comments

An article in The Guardian (UK) a few days ago alerted me to the fact that the world’s biggest fish market is about to close. This is the Tsukiji wholesale Market in Tokyo where Japan’s obsession with seafood is transformed into an operation worth almost 2 billion Yen a day (about £15.5 million). But Tokyo’s…

The Japanese Doll Studio

By: maristravels November 8, 2016July 24, 2020

Japan, Uncategorizedantique kimonos and yakutas, Arts and crafts in Kyoto, collectable Japanese dolls, hand-made Japanese dolls, traditional Kyoto, walking in Kyoto3 Comments

Lured into the shop, Doll Studio Tomo, by the window display, we found a veritable heaven full of dolls, about 90 in total, each with individual costumes, differently patterned, each doll with a slightly different face, expression and posture. These dolls have the faces and forms of young children, each one the product of carefully selected materials and technical skills, but their facial expressions, attire, and their postures project the image of an ideal child.

MIYAJIMA – Beautiful Island in Japan

By: maristravels August 19, 2016December 15, 2016

Japan, UncategorizedFamous Floating Red Gate in Japan, Japanese food, Shrines & Temples in Japan, Torii, Wildlife in towns1 Comment

Miyajima is considered to be one of the three most scenic spots in Japan and I’m not going to argue with that. I was bowled over by it, Besides, it is a World Cultural Heritage site and continues to attract more visitors year by year. The island is regarded as a holy shrine of Shinto by the Japanese.

Part of the city of Hatsukaichi, Miyajima is located off the coast in the Seto Inland Sea and is easily reached by tram, train, and boat from Hiroshima for those wishing to experience a complete contrast to that city. The journey takes approximately 1 hour

HIROSHIMA – August 1945 and TODAY

By: maristravels August 2, 2016September 15, 2020

Japan, Uncategorized, Wars, Battlefields, Prose & Poetry of WarAtom bombs, Death in Hiroshima, Enola Gay, Hiroshima, Japan and the bomb, Nagasaki, Nuclear Bombs, Nuclear Disarmament, Peace Park in Hiroshima, World War II & Japan8 Comments

It was Sunday,August 6, 1945, and a hot midsummer sun shone from the blue sky over Hiroshima, Japan. It had been a night of constant alerts with sirens warning of planes overhead but in the morning the all-clear sounded. The streets were full of people, workers returning from night shifts, day workers on their way to take their place, military workers, factory watchmen, women shopping, secondary school children making fire breaks, all, we can suppose, weary after a sleepless night.