Very delayed... Some Koko-en Photos~!

Whew! I've been so busy the past two months I haven't had any time at all to upload my photos! ごめんなさい！！I'll do my best to catch up on things this week. All the photos are processed and ready to go, I just have to sit and be patient with the still-abysmally-slow upload times.

Anyways, the Koko-en in Himeji is still as lovely as ever! I made a couple trips there over the last two months, and here's a roundup of the best of the photos. The trick to the Koko-en, as ever, is to get there right when it opens so as to avoid the worst of the crowds. Otherwise, patience is required to wait until an area clears up of tourists just long enough to snap a scenic photo.

The main building over the main pond. It's actually quite photogenic at the right angle!

I have no idea what kind of fruit this is. It was growing on a tree and it looks pretty, at the least!

Sometimes the paths can be quite dense in some of the sub-gardens, and I always enjoy this part because it always seems empty of anyone besides me and some overeager koi fish.

It had just rained the night before, so this daisy was still fresh with dew. Definitely the best time to photograph the garden is in the early morning the day after a rain. Clear skies suit flowers rather well!

This photo was taken before full autumn had truly begun, but it's still stunning nonetheless! And yes, this is still within one of the sub-gardens at the Koko-en.

There was a pair of beautiful lilies blooming in an out-of-the-way corner of one of the sub-gardens. It was my first time to see some blooming in the "wild" and not cut in a vase.

With such clear skies, I couldn't resist getting a photo of the unboxed castle! Alas, now some of the sub-buildings are getting their much-deserved turn at renovations. One day, I'll fully enjoy the castle with no pesky scaffolding in my way!

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Cherry Blossom Season at Nagoyama Temple!

I haven't been to Nagoyama Temple in awhile, but today was a beautiful sunny day, and since it's about 10 minutes away by bicycle, I couldn't resist! Nagoyama is absolutely stunning during cherry blossom season! I know everyone crowds into Himeji Castle for cherry blossom viewing, but I definitely think Nagoyama's cherry trees are of comparable beauty; perhaps some might find the idea of flower viewing in a cemetery depressing, but wow, this is probably the most beautiful cemetery I have ever seen! Also, there were cats everywhere. Would they be considered temple cats or graveyard cats? Can you spot Himeji Castle (in its scaffolding)? The cemetery extends for quite a ways around the main temple, and there were cherry trees everywhere! A small garden nestled between the hills of graves. You can see the city stretching out behind it! I love how, at certain angles, the main temple seems to float above a sea of cherry trees. ...

Shinzaike Honcho Festival, Friendship Festival, and the Countryside!

Lots of photos and a few videos incoming! The Shinzaike Honcho Festival was the local neighborhood festival. The shrine was just down the street from Shirasagi, and all of us ALT's walked to it. It was a lot of fun! Three other neighborhoods were also having their festivals at the same time, which meant that we ran into their portable shrines along the way now and then. Everything culminated at the park on top of the hill next to Shirasagi, with performances by the kids and some portable shrine "dancing." The portable shrine was alternately carried and pushed/pulled along the route we took, which circled through most of the area around the Shinzaike Honcho main street. We marched in lines behind the portable shrine, chanting "Yo Ya Sa" along the way (the equivalent of "heave ho!"). The entrance to the shrine. (^ Some detailed photos of the portable shrine. ^) (A lion dance performance at the start of the festival.) ...

Foggy Day on Yoshino Mountain!

Yoshino Mountain is located in Nara Prefecture, and it is often considered one of the best places in Japan to see cherry blossoms. It takes about three hours and multiple train connections to get there from Himeji, which means that if you leave early enough, it's day-trip doable. I went there last weekend, on the 11th of April. The temperature was warm, but the weather alternated between foggy and cloudy. The trails were quite muddy due to the rainy days all of the week prior, but the views were still stunning! The trees were in various stages of losing their blossoms, so with each gust of wind petals were knocked off and blown about, creating a snowy impression. I wish I could have seen it on a sunny day, with the blossoms at their peak! I did my best to photograph the beautiful cherry-covered slopes during my hike, but the fog mutes the bright colors of the blossoms. New cherry leaves grow in with an orange-red color, which combined with the lingering pink and white blossoms c...

Daley-sensei's Adventures in Himeji, Japan.

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