More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

For the second day of my vacation I really lucked out weatherwise. I was out at sunrise under a blanket of fog. My plan was to walk along th...

The main kami in my area is known as Omoto, and is represented by a straw serpent. Up in Izumo a similar kami goes by the name of Kojin, an...

Shimonoseki Kaikyokan is the big, new aquarium located right on the seafront in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. It was designed by the Ni...

I took a break from posting recently as I went on vacation. A lot of friends and family read this blog, so I thought I would post vacation p...

Tachikue Gorge on the Kando River just south of Izumo City is a great place to spend a quiet couple of hours. The area is a designated sceni...

Japanese koi come in an astonishing number of breeds. Here are a few of the major ones..... KOHAKU.... white with large red markings on top ...

When it comes to where you go after death, the Japanese have had multiple places to believe in. Probably the most common nowadays is the Pur...

Omiwa Shrine is the major shrine at the base of Mount Miwa in Nara Prefecture. Known as Mount Mimoru in the ancient chronicles, Miwa is gene...

Rock and stone plays a major part in ancient Japanese mythology, so it's not surprising to find them marked as sacred with a shimenawa. ...

Concrete Wabi Sabi: Mountainsides Any look at the aesthetics, or economics, of concrete in Japan would have to look at concreted mountains...