Life in Japan - Pictures galore !! Arcades, Temples, Rainy days, etc

Guess I'll be the first to post a sakura photo:
http://www.gamengai.com/img.php?img=sakura.jpg

LOL...never read that. Yeah, that's exactly what I would do!

 

I was wondering who would be the first :lol: Not much sakura down here this year thanks to an electrical storm we had on Sunday. Some great effects mind you !! I've got a video of the power tower lit up by lightning ! Looks like something from a horror flick :nod:

Yakumo

 

Yeah, I'd have rather seen the electrical storm. I went for a jog Sunday night through Yoyogi park. Not one, but seven different techno parties going on.

 

ray: great & vast site (will occupy my eyes & thoughts for weeks !), and when i see links, seems it's a total culture of abandoned places in japan :love2:

....do people have problems there too if they cross such private places for fun? (french cases..)

 

How did I miss that link? I love this kind of stuff.

 

damn, great places there. have to visit some of them this summer. just great locs.

 

Lovin' all these Japan pictures...

:love:

 

They were giving flower arrangement lessons in the main shopping center today. I never got there in time to take pictures of the actual lesson (not that I was aiming too :lol so here are pictures of the arrangements.




Yakumo

 

After your child is born in Japan it's customary to take them to a temple / shrine for a blessing. So today we took Ren there. I have no interest in the religion of Japan but it was a good chance to take a few photos.

Here is the outside of the temple.


You're not actually allowed to take photos inside the temple but I did manage to squeeze this nice shot off before the priest came back.


From the Temple this is the view you can see. The big gate way is the main entrance to the temple. The mountains in the background are actually Kyushu, the other main part of Japan.


Here's the long arse treck of steps you have to climb up to reach the temple. Luckily we went around the back way by car :thumbsup:


The main floor area of temples is normally covered with a yellow-ish grit as you can see in this shot. Looks great in summer but a right mess when it rains.


To be honest I have no idea what the main "worship" item of this temple is (I don't really care either) however I always reefer to this temple as the zoo temple. Of course you must have the dominions of Goza from Ghostbusters :lol:


Then in this temple there's also loads of turtles ! They are said to bring long life so I guess that's why they are here.



I don't understand why they have a big Fugu fish in the temple though. Yeah, the mascot of shimonoseki is the fugu fish but what's that go to do with the temple


Yakumo

 

What a coincidence. Just did mine the other day too.

The ceremony itself is actually not religious I was assured (not that I gave a shit). It's more of a tradition. My son slept like a rock the whole way through.

No flash was the rule for us. We got most of it on video.

 

Hehehe, that was a coincidence. how old is your son now? Ren is about 2 and half months old now. He's now able to see properly and like a true son his eyes are glued on the TV screen if games are running :lol:

In the ceremony he was pretty quiet until the priest waved that stick with the metal threads on it over his head. He didn't like that one little bit.

Yakumo

 

Ahhhhhh!!! This whole topic is just too cool.

I always had a strange attraction to Japan, and not just because of video games. It just seems like such a nice place.:lol:

This thread just makes me want to visit as soon as possible! :icon_bigg

Thankyou for all the wonderful pictures Yakumo, Tatsujin, GaijinPunch, etc.!

 

3 and a half months. We did the 100 days thingy over the weekend. Wife & kid are still there so I get some free time this week. Gonna booze it up each night if I can.

 

You lucky bastard ! What I wouldn't give for a few days of freedom right now.:nod:

Yakumo

 

You had your first 5 weeks off though, right? This is my first break (other than a business trip to Honolulu for 3 days) since he was born in the first of Feb.

 

Well, yeah I guess so. You deserve a medal being with the baby all day. I'm lucky I guess being able to escape to work. I love my baby but sometimes it just becomes impossible to do anything. I can't wait until he's able stay quite for longer than 10 minutes without having to be picked up :lol:

Yakumo

 

Well, you must know that they never learn or should I say never change due to being bloody stuborn :lol:

Yakumo