Japan Through the Eyes of Others
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Spring season has a number of colorful bloom popping up around , with stunning Wisteria , colorful Tulip and the beautiful Azalea are no exception in the Middle of April up to early May ...
I wish you all a happy new month and stay safe always ...
One of my favorite flowers to photography
Can't believe it's still strive at this time in October. I just found this yesterday at the front of a mall. There are some in my son's garden as of now, but, not as pretty tho. :-))
Peace in dry country
stone, water, and memory
rest in quiet green
Yes, that was my attempt at haiku. This is a blast from the past of the Cowra Japanese Garden.
I’m doing yet another round of culling my photography archives — the third deep dive in as many years (clearly a slow process). I first posted a version of this shot back when I’d just picked up a camera and joined Flickr. Also when I was overenthusiastically experimenting with that classic fake HDR look. This is a refreshed take with a lighter hand on the sliders, still a combination of 3 bracketed exposures.
The gardens are located in the town of Cowra in the Central West region of NSW, Australia. The gardens were created to honour the historical and ongoing relationship between the people of Cowra and Japan — and the story behind it is surprisingly moving.
In 1960, the Japanese government decided to bring the remains of their war dead from around Australia to be reburied in Cowra, which already housed a cemetery for 231 Japanese soldiers killed during the 1944 Cowra breakout - a dramatic and tragic chapter involving a nearby prisoner-of-war camp. After the war, the Cowra RSL took on the respectful maintenance of the cemetery, which was formally ceded to Japan in 1963. In 1971, Cowra Tourism proposed the idea of a Japanese garden to acknowledge this connection, and Japan agreed to support it, as a gesture of appreciation for the town’s care of their fallen soldiers. It’s a nice outcome I think, for something rooted in war - a story worth reading if you’re into history.
The gardens themselves are a little pocket of Japan tucked into the dry, sunburnt hills of inland NSW. Think: manicured hedges, waterfalls, rocky slopes, peaceful lakes, and the occasional waterbird. There’s also a traditional Edo cottage, an open-air tea house (& you can get Japanese sweets), and a bonsai house (I've always loved Bonsai, don't have the patience to grow one though).
Hard to believe this peaceful garden is in regional NSW - we’re hoping to explore the real thing in Japan next year.
Have a great week out there. Thanks for any comments and likes, they are all appreciated!
ⓒRebecca Bugge, All Rights Reserved
Do not use without permission.
Stone lantern at the Buddhist temple Gōtokuji, Tokyo. The stone lantern is called a tōrō (灯籠). This particular style of pedestal lantern is known as a kasuga-dōrō (春日灯籠), and is one of the most common types found in Japan.
For most tourists Gōtokuji is quite a bit off compared to other famous sites in Tokyo - but it is still quite popular. After all they maintain the story of being the place that invented the beckoning cat - said to be inspired by a story of a monk's cat which saved the daimyo Ii Naotaka (1590-1659) from being hit by lightning by beckoning him into the temple.
But this temple is worth a visit for more than that (and I am saying this as a great cat lover). It is the largest historical site in Tokyo (according to the sign at the entrance - and I have no reason to doubt it). A temple has stood here since 1480, and Gōtokuji dates to 1655, with many of its existing buildings dating from the 17th century. The grounds are extensive and includes a cemetery for the Ii-family with traditional tombs. So that an Ii-family member was saved at this particular temple, according to the legend, might not be so very surprising since they obviously had strong ties to it.
- Taken @ Sunny's
- Japanese Garden, Ground
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunny%20Photo%20Studio/237...
ⓒRebecca Bugge, All Rights Reserved
Do not use without permission.
From when I left last time - it's about time to get back now.
At the Aomori Museum of Art.
Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
(In a room where photography is allowed)
Location: Sarushima
An island near Yokosuka, Japan. Home to abandoned military fortifications.
www.jcastle.info/castle/profile/222-Sarushima-Battery-Island