Pics from Japan

Posted October 28th, 2008 in Japan 8 Comments »

My dad sent me photos from Japan…

It’s a shrine in Shiga, near my house.  There are few people around (unlike Kyoto and Nara) and very quiet.

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8 Comments on “Pics from Japan”

  1. 1 Kitsune said at 3:37 am on October 28th, 2008:

    Wonderful photos, thank you for sharing 🙂

    Do you know what is that demon figure on the next to last photo?

  2. 2 umepontarou said at 5:09 am on October 28th, 2008:

    Hi Kitsune 🙂
    Ummm actually I don’t know, but I assume it’s some kind of Ogre as this shrine was built to protect people from ogres coming from other world…

    Long time ago (Heian to Edo era) in Japan people believed in ogres and monsters and there are many scary stories about them.
    (http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/02/edo-period-monster-paintings-by-sawaki-suushi/)

  3. 3 Kitsune said at 5:26 am on October 28th, 2008:

    Oh, I see. It makes sense in the context of shrine’s purpose 🙂

    Thank you for mentioning that page 🙂 Those were interesting artist renditions. Obakemono project has a nice documentation on Japanese monsters. I find folklore of Japan fascinating 🙂

  4. 4 umepontarou said at 6:02 am on October 28th, 2008:

    Me too.
    I think Japanese monsters (obake) are more scary than Western’s. In amusement parks in Japan you can experience Japanese style haunted house… and it really freaks you out (>x<)

  5. 5 tokyo5 said at 4:14 pm on October 30th, 2008:

    Yes…especially at festivals in Summer, you can visit a haunted house in Japan!

    On my post about the ミタマ祭 (Mitama Festival) in Tokyo here ( http://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/mitama-matsuri/ ) there’s a short video of the outside of a Japanese haunted house (I couldn’t video inside).

  6. 6 umepontarou said at 11:47 am on October 31st, 2008:

    Hi Tokyo5 🙂
    Year summer is a season for scary stuff … Personally I don’t like hunted house though… I’m a chicken :p
    Thanks for the link for Mitama Festival:)

  7. 7 tokyo5 said at 2:31 am on November 1st, 2008:

    Nice photos.
    What’s the shrine’s name? Tokyo has many shrines and temples…but big ones like that one always have people there!

  8. 8 umepontarou said at 3:16 am on November 1st, 2008:

    I think it’s Hieizan Engei-ji (比叡山延暦寺)
    This time everywhere should be red and orange colour… so beautiful 🙂

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