Dear friends

Rainy season was over here in Japan.

日本の梅雨がようやく終わりました。もうしばらくブログ夏休みです。

                                                                       I am still busy but have been thinking of you, dear friends.

                                                                                       at Yata temple
                                                                               Happy weekend everyone!
                                                                   

Good- by for a while!

                 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                          夏休みに入ります。秋にお会いしましょう！
                                

                  Thank you for your visit.      




                   

The Colors of Early Summer

Hi, dear friends!

いよいよ夏です。日本の友人の皆さんどのような夏の色を楽しんでいますか？

奈良県郡山市にある慈光院、禅寺です。

A refreshing breeze in the fresh green leaves and pink azaleas flowering here and there; they are the colors of early summer the Japanese enjoy before the sweltering rainy season in June.

This is the old Zen( practice of meditation)temple called Jikouin. The whole temple was built for Zen and Japanese tea- ceremony.


Would you like to have some tea , sitting on those Japanese cushions in the moment of early summer ?

All the Japanese paper sliding doors are taken off during summer season so the scenery of the garden is unfold before you.

                                                                                       powdered Japanese tea
　　　　　　　                                                                  　    

                                                                                                 Jikouin Temple

                                                                                              the garden of Jikouinn

                        I found a nest of swallow under the roof of this temple.These young birds of swallow will leave     
                        their nest soon. This is also the color of early summer I like.

                                
                                                            Shared with Friday My town shoot out 
                                                                                Our World
                                           

                                                   Than you for your visits,my friends. Until next time!

                                                                                Tomoko

Sculptures

大坂御堂筋に並ぶ彫刻達です。

Street Gallery

                                                                "a girl"in Beaujolais"( ボジョーレの娘) by Tominaga Naoki in Japan    

You can see sculptures of women and boys on the Midousuji Street which is one of the main streets in Osaka. There are 29 original sculptures along the street. Those great sculptures were donated by the corporations based in Osaka to Osaka city.

                                                           Please meet some of them today.

                                                        "a dancer"by Venanzo Crocetti in Italy(ヴェナンツォ・クロチェッティ)

                                                                          "a boy in the sunlight" by Satou Keisuke in Japan

                                                                                         "Jill" by Asakura Kyouko in Japan

                                                                         
                           Jill, an elegant and a fashionable lady, is loved by both younger and older women isn't she ?

 

                                                                             "a sitting woman"by Emilio Greco in Italy

                                                                  I feel like lying down by her body to relax.

                                 


                                                                                  Well, guess what the next is...... 

                                                                          the pond at Jyu-rinji Temple in Nara

                                                                          Do you think we look ugly ?

Actually we are old water spirits called Kappa in Japan.We are small like infants and have a dish on our head, which always needs to be filled with water. When the water is dried up, we are utterly useless! We hope you like us.

                                                       

                                                          shared with My Town Shoot out ,   Our World

                                             Thank you for your visits. Until next time, my friends!

                                                                         Tomoko

Memory

Dear Friends!

                                                                    Sorry, I'm  late late posting.
               I am  linking the drawing challenge on "memory"of this week by Kristen of A Sunny Spot .
                                             

   
                                                                        Nakanoshima in Osaka

                                         I was also standing here, enjoying his painting for a long time!

                                                       　　 He showed me his painting with smile.     

               Nakanoshima, this is the oasis for people in Osaka.

I walked around Nakanoshima, Osaka the other day.It was a perfect day for a walk, and I enjoyed fresh green and sunlight through leaves. 

Osaka is my mother’s home town. I remember that my mother liked painting as well.In her old age she did not go out for sketching but she liked making birthday cards with her hand painting for her friends and family.

  

 I hope you too have a happy day with your good memories!

         

                                                                    

                                                    　　 Thank you for your host, Kristen....

 Thank you for your visits. Until next time!

Tomoko

Bridges

                                                                        Dear friends!
These are some of my photos. They had been quiet  for a long time in my PC. These bridges are beginning to tell their stories.

水の都、天下の台所と呼ばれる大阪。川に囲まれた街です。

２００以上もある橋の多くは大阪の商人達の私財を投じて建設されました。

物、人々が行き交う橋が彼らの生活を支える大切なものであることを知っていたのですね。

                                                                                            Osaka, Nakanoshima

                                                                                             Osaka, Nakanoshima

Osaka is surrounded by the rivers and there are more than two hundred bridges there.The city has developed as a center of the nations commerce since the Edo period(1608~1867). Not only many people but also many products and vegetables were coming and going on the bridges, and many goods were loaded on ships and sent from there to many places all over Japan.

The most bridges in Osaka were built using the local merchants' funds. They had known that  bridges were very important to support their lives. They might not have imagined that highways would run over the bridges at that time. Gladly,their bridges have supported the development of Osaka for a long time.

the closed Takedao iron bridge seen from the tunnel

                                             Takedao Iron Bridge over the Muko River, Do you think it is scary? You can walk through on the side!
                                                                               
A JR line between Namase station and Takedao station, which ran along the beautiful Muko Valley, was abandoned in 1986.Since then the old line has become popular as a walking trail for hikers. Although hikers go through some tunnels and cross some old iron Bridges, this old bridge attracts many hikers through the year. 

                                                                                              Namase iron bridge

                                                                                    the Double Bridge in Tokyo
                                                                              the entrance of the Imperial Palace 

the stone bridge in the garden of Yata Temple

the paint train passing on the bridge in a countryside of Kyoto

It is petty isn't it?

shared with  Friday My Town Shoot Out

Thank you for your visits!

Until next time

Tomoko

What will you discover in Nara Park?

いよいよゴールデンも終わりですね。皆さんお元気でしょうか。いつもブログを見て下さって有難うございます。朝早い奈良公園は祝日とは思えないほど静かでした。

Today is the last day of the national holidays which is called“Golden Week”in Japan. It is one of the Japan's three busiest holiday seasons, besides New Year's holidays and the Obon holidays in summer. Our sons went back their homes after spending the holidays with us. I have just gone back to my lifestyle.

                      

Nara Park

It's a warm and sunny day in Nara, and the road is busy with cars heading to Nara Park. We wanted to beat the rush to the park by an hour, so we woke up very early in the morning, and drove to the Park. There are many old temples and shrines on the large site, and it is also home to over 1200 roaming deer that are considered sacred. So my granddaughter is eager to play with deer every time she visits us.

                                                                     a child deer with his cute tail                                           
                                      

                               

                                                                                             

                                                                                   Kasuga Grand Shrine
                                                                       miko cleaning the shrine's garden 

                                                                      kannushi wearing a garment called joe                                                           
                                                      He is busy preparing worship in mornings.

  

After a long walk around, we had an ice cream 

and some baked confections with bean jam in it!

My friends, I am looking forward to visiting your blog soon!!  

                                                                                                  our world                                        

Tomoko