Posted in writing and poetry, nature, travel and places, kyoto, haiku on May 2nd, 2007 1 Comment »
One of the weirdest Shinkansen stations is without a doubt Shinkobe. The station building hangs on the side of Mt Rokko, above the city, with only a green mountain at the back. The trains arrive and depart via long tunnels bored in that same mountain. Right under the station a river comes cascading down the […]
Posted in nature, technology, history, travel and places, kyoto on Apr 28th, 2007 No Comments »
The Hozu River is the designation for the upstream section of the Katsura River, between the Hozu Bridge in Kameoka City and the Togetsu Bridge in Arashiyama. The river originates in the Tanba mountains and finally, south of Kyoto, flows into the Yodo River. It changes name three times, because the upper reaches above […]
Posted in nature, travel and places, gardens, temples, kyoto on Apr 23rd, 2007 1 Comment »
Although now most flowers are gone, last weekend (April 14-15) there were still some beautiful sakura left in Kyoto. After having seen the “Kansetsu sakura” of the Philosopher’s Path (planted by the wife of nihonga painter Hashimoto Kansetsu, in the memory of her husband) and the famous trees of Arashiyama (originally from the sacred groves […]
Posted in nature, travel and places on Apr 12th, 2007 No Comments »
Hokkaido has the following six National Parks:
1. Daisetsuzan National Park:
The largest national park in Japan, more or less in the center of Hokkaido, near Asahikawa. Called the “Roof of Japan” for its large volcanoes as Mt Asahidake (2290 meters high), Mt Tomuraushi and Mt Tokachi. There are extensive fir and spruce forests on the […]
Posted in nature, calendar, travel and places, kyoto on Apr 8th, 2007 1 Comment »
The Philosopher’s Path (Tetsugaku no Michi) in Kyoto is one of my favorite walks, but I had been there only in summer, autumn (good for momiji leaves) and winter, as I discovered yesterday, because I never realized that it is also the prime sakura spot in Kyoto!
The philosopher’s Path is a 2 kilometer trail along […]
Posted in nature, calendar, travel and places, kyoto on Apr 5th, 2007 No Comments »
One of the most famous places for seeing cherryblossoms in Osaka is the Mint, or Zoheikyoku, which features a long lane where rare cherry trees form a veritable tunnel of blossoms.
As the branches hang down low, the flowers are surprisingly closeby.
There are apparently 120 different kinds of cherrytrees and about tree times as many trees; […]
Posted in nature on Apr 4th, 2007 No Comments »
There was a sudden spell of rain today, with cold air, after which the sun came through again. That caused a beautiful rainbow to appear in the sky over Osaka:
Posted in nature on Mar 26th, 2007 No Comments »
Yesterday I showed you a rather miserly sakura tree from Kobe - here is a much better one I saw today in the grounds of Osaka Castle, near the Nishinomaru Park. Unfortunately, it was the only one and it was surrounded by people taking its picture with their mobile cameras!
Posted in nature on Mar 25th, 2007 No Comments »
Spring is finally here. The last few weeks were unexpectedly cold, but although rainy, this weekend the temperature rose to a more agreeable level and… the first sakura in Kobe started budding on this small tree a block away from where I live. Just a simple beginning of spring, but from now on it will […]
Posted in nature, calendar on Mar 14th, 2007 1 Comment »
The cherry blossoms will bloom early this year. Whether that is a good thing is the question, as according to popular belief strong winters make good sakura, just like hot summers cause deep-red koyo. And although in normal years the blossoms advance over Japan from the south, like a nice frontline (the sakura zensen), this […]
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