Japan Memoir

Road to Ikoma

Birdie told me the mountains are closer than you think. So I hopped on my bike and road east past Hanazono Park and went uphill. I got to this small shrine and my stomach started gurgling. The mountains in the background are very close.

They had this rock lantern or cairn as my ancestors would have said.

Osaka Dotombori

I was riding my bike around looking for America Mura, Den Den, and Shinsaibashi when I stumbled on Dotombori. The little boy in the picture is imitating the Glico man a very famous sign in Osaka. Glico man has his hands raised in sporting victory. He is 70 years old and 33 meters tall.

The Ebisu bridge I am standing on leads across the canal. On either side of the bridge is a river walk.

Another iconic sign, Kani Doraku crab in Dotombori.

Dotombori is akin to Times Square in New York at night. I couldn't wait to leave because it was so crowded.

Osaka Castle Park and Museum

Osaka Castle and Park

I loved this fountain containing rock monoliths. I didn't get very close, but they look like granite to me.

A little samurai statue.

Osaka Castle from across the moat. In 1583 Hideyoshi Toyotomi began to build Osaka castle. It is the 400th anniversary of the Winter Seige and Summer War of Osaka. It played an important role in the unification of Japan.

A closer view of the castle.

View from the 8th floor. Looking at the National Museum of Art.

View east toward my apartment and Higashiosaka.

You can dress up as a samurai.

Nara Todaiji Grounds

Nara Todaiji Grounds - Just outside the hall of the Giant Buddha is a wooden statue of Binzuru (Pindola Bharadvaja). Binzuru was one of sixteen disciplies of the buddha. If you rub the statue on a part of Binzuru's body and rub your corresponding body part your aliment will disappear.

I think this is a bell tower.

Close up of the top.

Torii gate - can you tell I like torii gates.

Small pond adjacent to the Great Hall.

Rickshaw rides start at the entrance to the property. Mom, can I have one please.

Nara Humuro Jinja Shrine

Nara Himuro Jinja Shrine This small shrine is across the street from the Nara National Museum. It is set back from the road and the entrance is through a red torii gate.

The main building and a large gathering space.

The wooden placques are for prayers. For about ¥200 you can write a prayer and the names of the people for whom you want to pray.

Guardian of the entrance.

International prayer for peace.

Nara Light Up Wallk

Nara Light Up Promenade

I waited for the Light Up Promenade to start at the Nara National Museum grounds. The pond in front of the building has beautiful water lillies blooming.

Many young women and men dressed in tradional kimono for the festival.

The festival began with speeches on the park property near the Todaiji Temple. The symbol on the left is a heart. I would love to know what the other symbols represent.

As volunteers started lighting the cup shaped lanterns colored lights blinked on and off along the side of the adjacent mountain.

There must have been thousands of lanterns.

This set of lights reminded me of a river.

Lights near the corner.

Many other lanterns were lit in the city.

The Buddhist Sculpture Hall and a half dozen other buildings are illuminated.

The five story pagoda at Kofukuji Temple is illuminated. Beautiful. It was a long busy day, but I am glad I stayed for the festival.

Nara Kasuga-Taisha

The shrine is at the foot of two sacred mountains, Kasuga-yama and Mikasa-yama. You enter the property through the first torii gate. The shrine was founded in 768 and housed the guardian spirit of the Fujiwara clan.