Posted in art and photography, travel and places, temples, kyoto on Apr 5th, 2007 No Comments »
Many times I have been in the East Temple, Toji, to experience its mystic three-dimensional mandalas and enjoy its other wondrous statues. It is a temple of esoteric anger and benevolence at the same time, a temple as old as the city in which it stands. Unfortunately, it lies on the wrong side of the […]
Posted in travel and places, kyoto on Mar 27th, 2007 No Comments »
Last weekend in central Kyoto we came across a stark white wall with black metal lanterns hanging in front of it. It appeared to belong to the dining bar and Japanese restaurant Rebirth. Unfortunately, we had no time to try it out…
Posted in travel and places, kyoto on Mar 26th, 2007 No Comments »
Yesterday at the end of the afternoon, when the weather all of a sudden became bright after a rainy day (something which reminded me of Holland), we climbed up to Suwayama Park above Yamamotodori, on the flank of Mt Rokko. The park was not much as there was nothing in bloom yet - it is […]
Posted in travel and places, gardens on Mar 26th, 2007 No Comments »
The best Japanese-style garden in Kobe is Sorakuen, established by a former mayor of the city, Mr Kodera. It is a typical stroll garden with a central pond, but characteristic and not wholly traditional are the huge sotetsu trees standing along the path that leads into the garden - sotetsu are tropical trees, in English […]
Posted in travel and places, temples, kyoto on Mar 20th, 2007 No Comments »
Now overrun by young crowds, the Shinkyogoku area originally was temple land: in the late 16th century Hideyoshi, in his remaking of the city, moved two temples, Seiganji and Konrenji here (Konrenji has since moved again). The area became a “town in front of the temple gate”, with theaters and teahouses and that is how […]
Posted in crafts, travel and places, museums, news on Mar 19th, 2007 No Comments »
March is the time of dolls (hina ningyo, the dolls for Girl’s Day) in Japan and there are four ongoing exhibitions in Kyoto:
At the Kyoto National Museum “Girl’s Day and Dolls” (until April 8);
At Hokyoji Imperial Convent the annual spring exhibition, this year for the 100th time (until April 3; take bus no. 9 from […]
Posted in travel and places, intercultural on Mar 16th, 2007 No Comments »
There is an old Chinese legend telling that the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (Qin Shihuangdi, 259-210 BCE) sent his court sorcerer, Xu Fu, with 3,000 virgin girls and boys overseas to find the elixer of eternal youth and eternal life. Supposedly, that elixer could be found on Penglai, a paradisical island-mountain in the […]
Posted in internet, food, culture, art and photography, travel and places, museums, news on Mar 15th, 2007 No Comments »
From March 20 to June 17 the Tokyo National Museum will host The Mind of Leonardo, an exhibition with as its centerpiece The Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci. This exhibition is part of the Italian festival in Japan this spring called Primavera Italiana 2007. Not everyone in Italy was happy that this priceless work was […]
Posted in internet, culture, movies, travel and places, museums, news on Mar 14th, 2007 No Comments »
Despite the expected boost it will give the economy, not everybody in Nagasaki is happy with the government decision to register 20 Christian sites with the Unesco World Heritage List. As Asahi.com reports, the priests are afraid noisy tourists will disturb the peace of the believers by snapping their picture, leave graffitti on the walls […]
Posted in writing and poetry, history, travel and places, kyoto on Mar 5th, 2007 No Comments »
During my New Year visit (hatsumode) to the Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto, I also walked into a sort of sub-shrine, that stands to the side at the beginning of the path leading to the main shrine. It is neglected by most people, for me it was also the first time to visit.
Aptly called Kawai Jinja, […]