Persimmon

The persimmon leaves are shining under the strong sunshine in May. This May is quite hot. Last Sunday the temperature of my city was 34.7℃. Persimmon trees are tough.

This is a young fruit just after blooming. It will be a tennis ball size in autumn. I love its red.

RARE CHANCE TO ENJOY FULL BLOOM

  Thanks to the sudden snowfall and cold weather, we were able to enjoy cherry blossoms longer this year. It is very very rare to have a snowfall after cherry blooming.

 One week after my first visit, canola flowers had opened.

This is a wonderful present from nature colored with white, yellow and green under the blue sky.

Cherry trees in the city

In the same morning, I visited the park near the library.

At the noon time, many people would spread a vinyl sheet to sit and eat lunch under the blossoms.

The stone bridge is still sleeping under the tranquil beauty of spring.

Big Present in Spring 櫻花開了

The time has come again.

I went to see cherry blossoms before seven on Saturday 2 weeks ago. The air is fresh and petals are shining.

Cherry is called "sakura" in Japanese.

During the cherry season, it is windy every day. It's not easy for me to take photos in focus.

They are pretty.

80 percent of blossoms have opened. Full bloom will be a few days later.

Kairakuen

A small but old plum tree welcomed visitors with full bloom.

Kobuntei is a three-story wooden building.

The first floor is very wide and we can enjoy open views in three directions, east, south and west.

 This is a garden view from the third. The roof is cypress bark. Many small square plates cover the roof. Each of them were fixed with a bamboo nail. Its maintenance may be not easy.

 You might enter this type mat room, a formal place to welcome guests.

 This park keeps the tea house. Guests to attend a tea ceremony clean their hands here. The sound of water will clean their hearts, too.

 Until the host informs the opening of the party, guests wait here in silence. 

 The thatched roof gate is a symbolic boundary from the daily life.

Technics In Old Days

This is a sword guard preserved in Ibaraki History Museum. Difference of colors were made by mixing some metals such as copper and silver.

Japanese words have been made for 900 years. To my surprise, quite a lot of young women inspired with some animations visit sword museum today. 

 

This is a paper globe made 160 years ago.
Woodblock was the only way for printing.

 This must be a job of patience.

 Could you see India in the center above?

Tsuchiura Castle In Early Spring

A pretty red plum blossom welcomed me, a new visitor.

 This is the plum tree I took the photo. It was a cold day, many blossoms still hesitated to open themselves and watch primary school students coming to play in the castle park. The buds might be hearing shouts of joy presented by the children.

Castles in Japan basically shaped in a square and the four corners had this building called 'yagura' to watch the enemy and shoot them from high places. 

This is the main gate of the castle.

This is an imaginary fish which was believed to have a special power of fire prevention.

A restored wall has many holes shaped in square, circle and triangle to shoot arrows and guns. This castle had not faced a war fortunately. 

It is not easy for shooting through this small hole.

Thatched Roof 茅草苫的屋顶

 

 In early February, I went to Furumine Jinja shrine. Torii, entrance gate is made of stone.

 The roof is thatched. At shrines and temples in this country, most of all roofs are tiles or copper plates. This shrine has kept its original roof until today.

 If you have seen many jinja shrines in Japan, you will notice this building is unique.

This red-faced man is called Tengu. He is believed to bring people good fortune. Tengu is an important factor in Japanese folklore.

Well Preserved Merchant Houses at Kawagoe 一百年前的商家

 Two hundred years ago, this city was linked to Tokyo by a river. Merchants carried rice and sweet potatoes by ship. 100 years ago, there was a big fire and most of the houses were burnt. 

 A few fireproof houses like this were not burnt. After the fire, merchants built their houses by this style called "kurazukuri" which had 30cm thick earthen walls.

When a fire occurs, every window is shut with two doors. This door is very thick and shaped like pleats. These notches do not allow fire invading inside. And furthermore, to prevent the awful invasion of heated air, mud is applied completely on the slite surface openings between the doors and window. Merchants kept mud for 365 days.

This is the wooden belfry of the city.

 The right side wall on the roof has an important role to prevent a fire coming from the house next door.

You can see a unique design on both sides of the roof. Fire-extinguishing was quite difficult in those days. The owner of this house decorated the sides with a water wave design.