Leap Day Snow in Tokyo

-


Leap Day let its presence be known in Tokyo with a sudden snow shower that blanketed the city. I went around and took some photos and videos of certain spots. In the past several years, snowfalls in Tokyo have become somewhat rarer than in the past.


Ota Dokan (1432-1486)

Ota Dokan was a samurai leader of the 15th Century who built the first castle in Tokyo then known as Edo. He died at the hands of his master who had been deliberately misled that Ota was disloyal. His death occurred during the early part of the Sengoku Period (1476-1573) when treachery and murder was commonplace.


Buddha of Tenno-ji Temple of the Yanaka Area


 Golden Kannon Statue of Zenshoan Temple

Kusunoki Masashige (1294-1336)

Kusunoki Masashige was a samurai lord during the transitionary period from the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate to the rise of the Ashikaga Shogunate. He is remembered for his loyalty to the Emperor Godaigo. Against his better judgement, Kusunoki followed the Emperor's orders to march against their former ally Ashikaga Takauji at Minatogawa. There he died in battle and later Godaigo was forced to go into exile.

Yanaka Cemetery

Nijubashi - Imperial Palace












The Tomb of Tokugawa Yoshinobu



In Yanaka Cemetery is the grave of the last Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837-1913). Yoshinobu surrendered his power as Shogun to Emperor Meiji in 1867 thus ending over 600 years of military rule in Japan.










Sake Shop Museum





Yamanote Train pushes through the snow


Benzaiten Shrine - Ueno Park


Kan'ei-ji Temple - Ueno Park


Tomb of Shogi-Tai - Shogun soldiers who died here in 1868

Saigo Takamori (1832-1877)

Saigo Takamori was arguably the last true samurai who rebelled against the Meiji Government in 1877 and died before the samurai class as a whole was abolished. Due to his popularity, he was posthumously pardoned in 1889 and his statue in Ueno was built in 1898.






Comments

  1. MitulPatelMarch 1, 2012 at 9:01 AM

    面白そうです。

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 10, 2012 at 9:16 AM

    I discovered your web site via Google while looking for a related subject, lucky for me your web site came up, its a great website. I have bookmarked it in my Google bookmarks. You really are a phenomenal person with a brilliant mind! www.cremation-usa.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Japanese Monks Cutting Bamboo Festival - Takekiri-eshiki

-
Image
On June 20th, on Mt Kuruma north of Kyoto an interesting ritual is held where Japanese Buddhist monks hack at thick bamboo stalks in order to drive out evil and ensure good harvests. The ritual is known as Takekiri-eshiki and goes back over a thousand years. The origin of the ritual is said to come from an encounter a monk had with two huge snakes in the 9th Century. The snakes were male and female and they no doubt saw the monk as a meal. The monk, however, was able to kill the male snake with a well-aimed prayer. The female snake pleaded for mercy and promised to guard the waters of the mountain. In the Takakiri-eshiki ritual, bamboo stalks representing the male snake are cut by sword-wielding monks. There are two teams representing the ancient provinces of Omi and Tamba. It's believed that whichever team cuts the quicker their represented area will have the better harvest. The monks are dressed as Sohei who were fighting priests of Old Japan
Read more

Japanese Children Sumo Festival

-
Image
The Sumo festival in the small town of Wadayama in Hyogo Prefecture may not have the most skilled sumo wrestlers or the heaviest for that matter but they make up for it with a lot of energy and for their grandmothers with cuteness.  To celebrate the autumn harvest, the boys of the village gather at the local shrine to wrestle with each other in sumo fashion wearing the traditional sumo loincloth known as fundoshi. Officiating them is a referee dressed in stylish robes of the Heian Period (794-1192) known as a gyoji.  The boys range in age from about 5 to 11 or 12. There is no ritual significance in the age of the contenders. It's just that most of the boys feel embarrassed to stand around in a loincloth once they start Junior High School.  The purpose behind the sumo event other than to give their grandparents something to awe about is to bring good fortune to the community. This harkens back to sumo's origins before it became a professional sport. In ancien
Read more

Japanese Penis Festival - Kanamara Matsuri

-
Image
The Kanamara Matsuri of Kawasaki, Japan is a cocky little festival where the floats would make a sailor blush. It's a balls-to-the-wall festival where zaniness reigns supreme with giant penis floats, unconvincing drag queens, people sucking on penis lollipops, and dick-themed hats and costumes. The origins of the festival go back to the Edo Period (1603-1867). Supposedly there lived a girl who had a demon take up residence in a certain part of female anatomy. When she was married her husband found out about her hidden inhabitant to his horror. In the process of consummating the marriage, the husband was castrated when the devil bit off the poor fellow's member. A second husband also suffered the same fate (presumably no one told him about the first husband). A local blacksmith forged an iron phallus and when this was put in the proper (or improper) place, the devil broke its teeth on it and thus fled. The devil-quelling device was enshrined and in later times lad
Read more