Cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Yokohama-Sankei-en Garden

These are pictures taken at Sankei-en Garden in Yokohama. Sankei is a pseudonym of Tomitaro Hara who lived in this this garden after his marriage until he passed away. His grandfather -in-law Zenzaburo Hara was an entrepreneur who succeeded as an manufacturer and exporter of silk fabrics in the early Meiji Era(1868.9.8-1912-7.30). Zenzaburo had a son who passed away young and left his daughter- Zenzaburo's granddaughter- named Yasu. Yasu went to Atomi-gakuen High School where Tomitaro worked as a teacher. At that time his name was Tomitaro Aoki. They fell in love and Zenzaburo admitted their marriage. Zenzaburo adopted Tomitaro as his son who named himself as Tomitaro Hara since his marriage. The married couplle lived in this place which Zenzaburo had bought as his villa before their marriage.

Tomitaro loved haiku, Japanese poem, and named him as Sankei as a poet. This garden was named after his pseudonym Sankei. After World War ⅡHara family donated his garden to Yokohama City which has been maintaining this garden.

Chinese New Year in Yokohama

Yokohama China Town is the biggest China town in Japan. Thre are two mausoleums in this area. One is Kantei Mausoleum(below)

and the other is Maso Mausoleum(below).

 Kantei is deemed as God and Maso is deemed as Goddess. Today is the first day of Chinese New Year and Lion Dance show was held in this town.

 

Five lions are waiting for their appearances at a park nearby

 

 

 

 

And now the show started.

 

 

Tsurugaoka-hachimanngu Shrine

Today is the last day of winter according to the calender though it is very cold still now. In Japan we have a habit of scattering beans chanting ' Demons out, good luck in'.
Here in Kamakura some temples and shrines held 'Bean Scattering Ceremonies. I took some photos at Tsurugaoka-hachimangu Shrine

 

 

 

 

Mt. Fuji seen from my house in Yokohama

It is such a beautiful but a cold day today as we can see Mt. Fuji from my house in Yokohama. Please enjoy it.

William Willis in Kagoshima

William Willis was a doctor who came from Northern Ireland to Japan in 1862. I have already introduced him in my yahoo blogsite. One of his achievements was Kagoshima University's Medical Department. At the request of Saigo Takamori, Kagoshima's hero at the time of Meiji Restoration, Willis resided in Kagoshima and opened a medical school there in 1870.
This time I had a chance to go to Kagoshima. So, I took some photos which were related to William Willis.

This is a monument which was built at Shiroyama to comemorate his great acievement in 1893 and then moved to a hall in the campus of Kagoshima University's  Medical Department.

On a street of Kagoshima city there are statues of Willis and one of his students named Kanehiro Takagi.

 Written and posted by Mitsutoshi Masunari.

Joe Donald Stanka; Nankai Hawks Fans' Hero

I have been an enthusiastic fan of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks since I was a kid. The team had been franchized in Osaka and owned by a railway company 'Nankai' until they were sold to a big supermarket 'Daiei' and moved to Fukuoka City of Kyushu in 1988. Then Daiei sold the team to the current owner 'SoftBank' in 2004. Whoever owns the team, I love the Hawks. I sometimes bought Baseball Magazine, both weekly and monthly ones, and kept some memorial ones. I chose some gravures from the magazines here.

In 1964 the Hawks won the pennant race of the Pacific League and the ace pitcher Joe Stanka won as many as 26 games aginst 7 losses. The Hawks played with the Hanshin Tigers, the champion of another league-Central League- and won the champion series by 4-3. Stanka pitched four games as a starting pitcher and won three games, 1st,6th and 7th games all by shutouts. The final game was held on October 10, 1964. It was the day when the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was held.

He was awarded MVP and given an automobile as an additional prize.

His teammate Tadashi Sugiura showered beer over him.

Stanka and his teammates

Sugiura, Nomura, Stanka, Hirose and Koike(From left to right)

I am sorry to hear the news that this great pitcher-Joe Donald Stanka- passed away on October 15, 2018.
RIP.

The above is an obituary of Joe Stanka.

Additional photos.
Other gravures from Baseball Magazine 

 

After the 6the game Stanka left the stadium with his wife.

Teammates tossed Stanka into the air as a ritual.

Cherry Blossoms are in Full Bloom

These are the photoes taken at Chidori-ga-fuchi moat beside the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.