Saturday, April 9, 2011

Canal City (inside)

fuk457

I must admit I do like the architecture of Canal City in Fukuoka. It is easy to see the influence of the canyon country of the Colorado Plateau on the design.

fuk460

Designed by American architect Jon Jerde who also designed the Riverwalk complex in nearby Kokura and the Namba Parks complex in Osaka.

fuk470

The name Canal City derives from a pool of water that snakes along the interior of the canyonlike interior.

fuk473

There are several fountains and an area for performances.

fuk482

I was here a few days ago and there was some type of market going on.

fuk485


fuk490


fuk492

Friday, April 8, 2011

Children's Inari Shrine

m3373

The 4th shrine I visited on my walk around Matsue was yet another Inari Shrine, knowns as the Children's Inari. It is well known mainly due to the writings of Lafcadio Hearn.

m3378

It was built by the Lord of Matsue as a subsidiary shrine of the Jozan Inari within the nearby castle grounds and he named it Komori Shrine which means child guardian.

m3380

In Hearns day mothers would come here to ask for help with their children that refused to take baths or have their heads shaved.

m3376

Nowadays those two problems are rare but parents leave prayers for any kind of problems they are having with their children, most often illness.

m3377

There is a smaller Inari shrine just behind the main building. There are many Inaris. According to the signboard at the shrine the main kami is listed as Uganomitama, the female as opposed to the more usual male Ukanomiama.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Hoki Church

hir117

Hoki Church is situated on the hillside of Hoki village with great views looking out over the coastline and islands.

hir114

It is interesting architecturally as the foundations are stone, the facade is made of red brick, the walls are wooden, and the roof is tile.

hir118

Like all the churches on Hirado, entrance is free.

hir120

It is the oldest church on Hirado Island, being built in 1898 to replace an earlier temporary church.

hir124

Monday, April 4, 2011

Vacation 2010 Day 16: Exeter

dvn4871

My final stop on my 2010 vacation was in Exeter, a place I lived for a couple of years, but havent been back to since.

dvn4900

The town was the westernmost outpost of the Romans in the SW, and parts of the Roman wall still remain. The Cathedral was built in the early 12th Century.

dvn4891

Actually this was the first time I had been in the cathedral.

dvn4874

Traces of medieval buildings still abound, and the town is not such a bad place to live.

dvn4902

After the Cathedral I wandered down to the River Exe and the canal basin next to it before walking to the train station.

So thats it for my 2010 vacation. Right now I am on my 2011 vacation so will start posting on that in a few weeks when I return from the deserts of Morocco.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Kakaji Town

kuni8104

Kakaji town is a collection of fishing villages on the north coast of the Kunisaki Peninsular in northern Kyushu.

kuni8101

We stayed in one of the villages, Otakajima, when we visited Kunisaki last year.

kuni8100

The ryokan was excellent quality, but cheap, probably because it is off the main road. Actually the village was in a hidden cove that could only be reached by a narrow mountain road.

kuni8098

The little island, Horseback Island, had a small shrine that could be reached at low tide.

kuni8093

The village ( actually small hamlet would be more accurate) was of course well protected by concrete.

kuni8094

This is not the ryokan!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Nagi MOCA

tott1295

Nagi is a small town in northern Okayama with a population of around 6,000 people, yet is home to a large Museum of Contemporary Art.

tott286

When we visited it there was an exhibition that featured a variety of artists, and the piece I enjoyed the most was by an Okayama artist, Gen Okabe, featuring a large "tunnel" constructed out of tree limbs. I saw a piece of his many years ago up in Kansai.

tott377

The occasional exhibits of modern art are not what this museum is primarily about. The museum is a collaboration between renowned architect Arata Isozaki and 4 artists who were asked to create artworks that would not be able to be displayed in a normal museum or gallery.

tott305

Opened in 1994, the three artwork/architecture pieces are titled Sun, Moon, and Earth, and are interesting enough that I will do a post on each one later.

tott289

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Spiral Staircases

sh314

There is nothing particularly Japanese about spiral staircases, but they do make nice photos!!

sh315

The first 2 photos are from the Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum near Kochi, Shikoku.

tott602

This one is in the Warabekan, a museum of toys and childrens songs in Tottori City.

sh9863

These last 2 photos are from the observation tower on top of Mt. Senkoji in Onomichi.

sh9865

Monday, March 28, 2011

Otobe Inari Shrine

m3366

The tjhird shrine I visited on my little walk around the neighborhoods east and north of Matsue castle was yet another Inari Shrine. It was hard to find, perched on a piece of high ground surrounded by houses, I eventually found a narrow gap between 2 houses with the steps leading up to it.

m3367

It looked as if there was not much activity here nowadays, and if it wasnt for the shimenawa it might be mistaken for a shed. The badly damaged statue to the right of the komnainu is all thats left of the fox statues.

m3368

The shrine was built by the Otobe family who were high-ranking retainers of the Lord of Matsue, and this location was chosen to protect the castle from the NE, in the same way that Enryaku-Ji on Mt Hie was chosen to protect Kyoto from that inauspicious direction.

m3369

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Canal City (outside)

fuk436

I post a lot on shrines, temples, and churches, but far more important to many contemporary Japanese are Cathedrals to Consumption!

fuk438

Canal City in Hakata is one.

fuk441

There are hotels, entertainment complex, restaurants, and more than 200 retail establishments.

But not one single place to buy a battery for my camera!!

fuk442

It was designed by the Jerde Partnership who focus on creating "spaces" for people to meet rather than buildings per se. They are currently redesigning my hometowns city centre (Coventry)

fuk443

Drawing inspiration from the canyonlands of the American Southwest, that is more apparent from the photos shot inside which I will post later.

fuk448

Friday, March 25, 2011

The view from Asari Fujisan

fuji3143

Sailing down the coast of Shimane approaching Gotsu one can see what looks like a miniature version of Mount Fuji. The proper name of this mountain ( hill in English) is Mount Murokami, but everyone kniws it as Asari Fujisan. On top is a small temple that can only be reached by foot, so recently I went for a walk to revisit it.

On the lower slopes passed this abandoned roadside shrine to Ebisu. Its been a long time since anyone left any offerings here.

fuji3146

Further up are several Jizo statues on the pilgrim path to the mountaintop. According to the story on the signboard, a long time a guy a boat was heading down the coast from Izumo to Hashi and stopped in near here. On board was a young girl who an old childless couple convinced to stay with them. At some later point the girl left and started to walk back towrds Izumo and the old couple chased after her. At this spot the old woman died. The old man died on top of the mountain at the site of the temple.

fuji3150

Asari Fujisan is only 246 meters high, but has 360 degree views around and along the coast. The coastal villages seen here are Gotsu, Kakushi, Tsunozu, Ninomiya, and Waki.

fuji3151

Right below is the village of Watazu.

fuji3152

The Gonokawa River close to where it meets the sea.

fuji3153

The village of Asari with its wind generators, looking up the coast towards Izumo.