Vegetable Ship - 5

Vegetable Ship - 4

Vegetable Ship - 3

Vegetable Ship - 2

Vegetable Ship - 1

Sacred Water in Meijijingu koen

Japanese Wedding Gown

Japanese Kimono

Kimono

The kimono (着物, kimono?)[1] is the national costume of Japan. Originally the word "kimono" literally meant "thing to wear" (ki "wearing" and mono "thing")[2] but now has come to denote a particular type of traditional full-length Japanese garment. The standard plural of the word kimono in English is kimonos[1], but the unmarked Japanese plural kimono is also sometimes found.

Kimonos are T-shaped, straight-lined robes that fall to the ankle, with collars and wide, full-length sleeves. Kimonos are wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right (except when dressing the dead for burial)[3] and secured by a wide belt called an obi, which is usually tied at the back. Kimonos are generally worn with traditional footwear (especially zōri or geta) and split-toe socks (tabi).[4]

Today, kimonos are most often worn by women, and on special occasions. Traditionally, unmarried women wore a style of kimono called furisode,[4] which have floor-length sleeves, on special occasions. A few older women and even fewer men still wear the kimono on a daily basis. Men wear the kimono most often at weddings, tea ceremonies, and other very special or very formal occasions. Professional sumo wrestlers are often seen in the kimono because they are required to wear traditional Japanese dress whenever appearing in public.[5] They commonly wear the kind of casual Japanese attire that is referred to as yukata, which is of plain unlined cotton.

(source: Wikipedia)

How does your country flag look like?

The national flag of Japan is a white flag with a large red circle (representing the rising sun) in the center. The flag's official name in Japanese is Nisshōki (日章旗, "sun flag"?) but the flag is more commonly known as Hinomaru (日の丸, "sun disc"?). The Hinomaru was widely used on military banners in the Sengoku (Warring States) period of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Meiji Restoration the flag was officially adopted for use as the civil ensign by Proclamation No. 57 on February 27, 1870 (January 27, Meiji 3 in the Japanese calendar). However, the flag was not adopted nationally until August 13, 1999, by the Law Concerning the National Flag and Anthem.

Along with the national anthem Kimi ga Yo, the Hinomaru is considered a controversial symbol of the militaristic past of the country. Use of the Hinomaru was also severely restricted during the early years of the American occupation of the country after World War II, although restrictions were later relaxed. Japanese law did not designate any particular flag as the national flag from 1885 until 1999, although the Hinomaru was legally the national flag for the brief period from 1870 until 1885. Despite this, several military banners of Japan are based on the design of the Hinomaru, including the sun-rayed Naval Ensign. The Hinomaru was used as a template to design other Japanese flags for public and private use.

(source: Wikipedia)

Praying & Making A Wish

When is your last time making a wish? Under a shooting star?

Meiji Jingu Jinza

Bourgone Wine at Meiji Jingu - cont'd

Bourgogne Wine at Meiji Jingu

Provenance of the Bourgogne Wine for Consecration at Meiji Jingu
"By gaining the good and rejecting what is wrong, it is our desire that we'll compare favourable with other lands abroad"... poem by Emperor Meiji

The Meiji period was an enlightened period during which a policy of "Japanese Spirit and Western Knowledge" was adopted, to learn from the best of Western culture and civilization while keeping Japan's age-old spirit and revered traditions. Emperor Meiji led the way in promoting modernization by embracing many features of western culture in his personal life, such as shearing his topknot and donning western attire, and in many other aspects of daily living. Among these departures, His Majesty set an example by taking western food and in particular by enjoying wine with it.

The barrels of wine to be consecrated at Meji Jingu have been offered by the celebrated wineries of Bourgogne in France on the initiative of Mr. Yasuhiko Sata, Representative, Hourse of Burgundy in Tokyo, Honorary Citizen of Bourgogne and owner of the Chateau de Chailly Hotel-Golf. Profound gratitude is due to the winemakers who have so generously contributed to this precious gift to be consecrated here to the spirit of world peave and amity, with the earnest prayer that France and Japan will enjoy many more fruitful years and friendship.

(text extracted from the photo for readability)

Asakusa Sensō-ji

Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺, Kinryū-zan Sensō-ji?) is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect, it became independent after World War II. Adjacent to the temple is a Shinto shrine, the Asakusa Shrine.

(source: Wikipedia)

Nakamise-dōri

Nakamise-dōri is a street on the approach to the temple. It is to have come about in the early 18th century. Neighbors of Sensō-ji were allowed to set up shops on the approach to the temple. In May of 1885 the government of Tokyo ordered all shop owners to leave. In December of that same year the area was reconstructed in Western-style brick. During the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake many of the shops were destroyed. They were rebuilt in 1925 using concrete, but destroyed again during the bombings of World War II.

The length of the street is approximately 250 meters and contains around 89 shops.

(source: Wikipedia)

Replica Ramen

This store specializes in Japanese Ramen. The display in front of the shop is NOT real, but it looks like real to me. The 'mock' or replia ramen is made of some acrylic, wax or other chemical substance.

Japan is one of the countries which is famous in this 'food display art' business. Japan began the practice of presenting menu offerings with plastic imitations, and the practice has spread somewhat to neighboring countries and -- of course -- is followed by Japanese eateries around the world. The concept is certainly tied to Japanese dining aesthetics, where items are arranged on the plate with beauty in mind.

Sacred Water in Jinja

Ema Prayer Plaque

Ema (絵馬, Ema?) are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshipers write their prayers or wishes. The ema are then left hanging up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) can read them. They tend to be fairly uniform in size and shape, but many have different pictures painted on them, of animals or other Shinto imagery, and they often have the word gan'i (願意), meaning "wish", written along the side. Stereotypically, the image on the plaque would be of a horse, uma or ma in Japanese (馬); ema means, literally, "horse picture".　This name originates from the fact that real horses were once offered by the wealthy in exchange for blessings at shrines.

Beginning in the Edo period, during the peak of the popularity of the kabuki theatre, it became quite common for temples and shrines to be given ema by the Torii school of painters. The Torii held a near-monopoly on the production of signboards and other promotional materials for the kabuki theatres, and would donate large paintings, on wooden boards, of kabuki actors to the shrines. Despite depicting what might be seen as an unusual subject for the religious context, these paintings were well-received, and incorporated with the shrine's other religious icons.

Unlike in most Western traditions, where one prays to revere, praise, and bless God, in Shinto, people tend to ask the kami for a wide variety of things, ranging from world peace to good scores on the next exam. At some of the more central and popular shrines, such as Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, one can find ema in many languages, as tourists leave their own wishes and prayers.


(source: Wikipedia)