Jade Buddha at Soji-ji Temple in Yokohama

I went to Soji-ji Temple in the vicinity of Tsurumi Station of the JR Keihin-Tohoku Line on purpose. Soji-ji Temple is a prestigious temple which is one of the two main temples of Soto-sect Buddhism. The other is Eihei-ji Temple in Fukui Prefecture.
It is also known as a temple where Yuujiro Ishihara - a very popular actor - was buried.
The purpose is not to visit the actor's grave but to see this graceful statue of Buddha. The statue of Buddha is on his way of a world tour and stopped by Yokohama for a ten-day-stay.
I will write how this statue was made after this show is closed on July 21.

Asakusa Hohzuki Fair

Hohzuki is translated as ' a Chinese lantern plant'. It is known as a medical herb and is also known as a bringer of good luck. 

Nearly one hundred tented stores opened to sell potted plants and salesclerks were hailing to sell them.

These are the scenes of Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa which held a temple festival on July 9 & 10, '13.

This is the main hall of Senso-ji Temple.

From the precinct of Senso-ji Temple we could see 'Sky Tree'.
  

Splendid Solo Show in Ginza

I went to Ginza yesterday to attend a solo show by an Australian artist. The artist's name is Elizabeth Dobrilla who currently lives in Melbourne. She has held her solo shows seven times in Melbourne, but this is her first one in Japan. She has lived in Japan for six and a half years until she left here in 2007.

Elizabeth in front of her painting

The theme of this solo show is 'Kagiama and Kaleidoscopes'. Kagiana is a Japanese word  meaning keyhole in English. I guess she looked Japanese culture through a keyhole and enpressed it on a canvas as if she was enjoying a kaleidoscope.

The model of this painting is a famous singer.

The round shaped guard of a Japanese sword looks like a keyhole( Kagiana).

This solo show started on July 1 and ends on July 13, 2013 at ' Gallery Q'. Don't miss it!
Address: 3rd fl. of Kusumoto 17th Bldg, 14-12, Ginza 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan  

Many people celebrated her solo show.
増成光俊

Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom in Yokohama

Spring has come to Yokohama. Cherry blossoms are in full bloom at Sankei-en Garden.

We can enjoy beautiful scenery whenever we come here.

 Three storied pagoda

Pretty flowers on a trunk of a tree.

Both amateur and professional photographers are setting up their cameras waiting for shutter chances.

Another must-see of Sankei-en Garden is Rinshunkaku which was brought from Wakayama Prefecture.

PS
Sankei-en Garden was named after Sankei Hara(below) who was a successful businessman and an antique colletor.

But, without his adoptive father's presence he could not have built such a big garden.

This is a portrail of Zenzaburo Hara who was the founder of Hara Enterprise which dealt with silk trade and earned a prodigious sum of money. Zenzaburo's only heir apparent passed away leaving his daughter Yasu.
Yasu studied at Atomi Women's High School where she met a teacher named Tomitaro Aoki. Tomitaro Aoki was Sankei Hara's original name before his marriage. 

  

Plum Blossoms are in full bloom in Yokohama

This is the entrance to Ohkurayama Park's Plum Garden

In the garden there are 200 plum trees of  several species.

Today is Tuesday, but there were so many people who enjoyed plum flower viewing.

I was among them and enjoyed the beautiful plum blossoms here in Yokohama.

New Year's biggest event in Japan: Hakone Ekiden

Ekiden is a long-distance relay road race which is very popular in Japan. Especially, New Year's Hakone Ekiden in which twenty university teams participate is the most exciting. It takes place on January 2 and 3. On the first day the race starts in front of Yomiuri Newspaper Company's Tokyo head office at 8:00 am and finishes at Lake Ashi of Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture. It takes nearly 6 hours. On the second day they run from Hakone to Tokyo. The distance from Yomiuri's head office to Hakone is 108 kilometers and the course is divided into five relays. So, each university team has to choose 10 strong distance runners.
Every year I go to Hodogaya station to see the 9th relay and the Kyobashi area to see the 10th relay.

This is the film which I took in front of Hodogaya Station. The 9th runner of Nippon Sport Science University is in the lead of the race.

On the roadside drummers are beating Japanese drums to cheer the runners.

In the Kyobashi area of Tokyo many people are waiting to see runners along the Ekiden course.

Here comes the top runner, the tenth relay runner of Nippon Sport Science University that finally won the race for the first time in 30 years.
Written and posted by Mitsutoshi Masunari; mitch68canada@yahoo.co.jp