Visiting Jinja on a hot summer day

When you travel Japan, you will see Buddhism temples (called 'tera') and Shinto shrines ( 'jinja'). I visited Shirasagi (white bird) jinja. Jinja is always clean and silent.

This is a gate of the jinja.

A pair of lions guards the building. This is the left one holding a jewel ball.

Visitors must clean their hands with fresh water here before worshipping the jinja.

Water spurts from the bill of an egret. 

The jinja building is based on a traditional Japanese architecture.The ring is set in the end of July in lunar calendar. It is said people can clean their spiritual impurities when going through it.

 The clean and cool water is coming out of a bamboo tube with the comfortable sound, surrounded by beautiful plants. You will see a stone basin like this in Japanese tea ceremony.

 The branches of this pine tree have been artificially arranged by a gardener.

 I like this little stone bridge.

Cool breeze 凉风清流

I went to Shiobara, 200km north of Tokyo. This area is famous for hot springs and red maple leaves. Now we can see blight green maple leaves under the blue sky, hearing the sound of the clean stream. 盐原风景好，也能泡温泉，看红叶。现在山里各种绿色叶子在阳光下光辉，溪流透明，访客都感到舒服。

This house was built 100 years ago in a typical Japanese architecture as summer villa. 这是日式建筑的避暑别墅。

Inside is Japanese style and a western table and chairs were used.

Welcome June 芸香 映山红

Rue opens flowers. This plant is very strong against the cold weather. Rue had been used as medicine in Europe.

Ophelia says "there's rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays."

The leaf has particular smell. In old China, people had placed Rue leaves in a book to protect it from a bookworm.

 This is Satsuki azalea. You will see lots of this plant shaping small hills in a Japanese garden.

 I don't know the name of the blue one. I love it because this blight blue makes me feel I am in a British style garden.

 I was surprised at this big red poppy. 

This tree had been planted to indicate the border of a field's owner. It has many small white flowers in the beginning of a rainy season.

 Wheat is waiting for reaping. I pay a great respect to a person who had an idea to powder this to make bread for the first time and also to a man who made beer with it.

Brick Kiln

This is a brick manufacturing kiln completed in 1890 designed by Hoffman, German engineer. This kiln is donut shaped. Bricks made here were used to build modern buildings, gates, chimneys and railway bridges. 

The big donut space is divided in 16 chambers. Bricks are carried in from the small U shaped entrance.

Bricks are piled up like this.  As fire travels around the circular kiln, each process of brick firing, cooling and taking out is made successively. One circle of firing takes 23 days. One hundred years ago, this kiln design was very efficient.

 Every chamber has 25 square holes on the ceiling from which coal powder is put in. Powder is delivered in containers on circular rails.

 Outer wall has been exposed the weather.　Thank you for the good work.

A pair of owl is growing their children in a hole of this big tree.

Fresh Bamboo Shoot Rice 日式竹筍飯和醬竹筍

It is just now to eat fresh bamboo shoots. Bamboo rice is cooked with soy sauce, sake, sugar and dried bonito shavings. 眼下是能品嘗嫩竹筍的季節。

This bamboo is cooked with above seasonings. I have enjoyed this great gift from spring. 放在上面的葉子是＂山椒＂香味相似花椒。竹筍風味更佳。

Full Bloomed Cherry Blossoms 櫻花今年又盛開了

 It is just now to fully enjoy cherry blossoms. 

 A friend of mine says the cherries in the photos are the most popular and gorgeous kind. This kind can be planted only by cutting not by seed. Therefore the parent characters are directly inherited to children. Meeting the good weather conditions, they always open blossoms at the same time because of having the same gene.

 They must be sisters of spring.
我读高中时学过一首诗，年年岁岁花相似 岁岁年年人不同。樱花漂亮得很，男女老幼无不喜欢。我年纪大了以后对樱花才有别的感觉，常常想起这首诗。

 The tree looks like covered with snow.

The petals are pinkish, so lovely. I hope you enjoy spring. Have a nice weekend.
不知像雪片一般的花瓣今年飞来飞去落何处。周末愉快。

Huge Old Tomb 油菜围绕着古代大墳墓

On my way to see cherry blossoms, I found an old tomb as big as a hill. The explanation plate says this tomb was built in 6th century, having 120m length and 11m height. I have no idea how people made this. The tomb is surrounded with yellow flowers now.

The excavation has been conducted.

Cherry Blossoms 櫻花開了

We have had a pleasure to enjoy cherry blossoms this year as usual.

This tree is fifty years old. Cherries can glow so fast.

The petal of this kind is small. 

This is another kind. The petal is bigger. I heard cherries have more than three hundred kinds.

Cherries were planted beside the ruin of an ancient temple built in eighth century. Circle stones indicate the position of poles.

Branches are big and long, withstanding winds and snows for many years.

Have a nice weekend.

Sudden Coldness 天氣變冷了

We enjoyed warm days for a few weeks and the temperature suddenly goes down today in the cold rain.

 There are only pansies preparing the arrival of spring outside of the library.

This is a young tree of magnolia kobus. 

The flower is tough against coldness.

  A fairy of cherry blossom is still sleeping in a pink bud. 人生一世閒如白駒過隙 何至自苦如此乎。