Kawaii Ema in Kyoto

In June 2015 I had several long meetings scheduled for a difficult project, but I was fortunate that these meetings would be in Kyoto and Osaka. After several days locked-up in meeting rooms in Kyoto and Osaka, our discussions concluded late Friday morning and had a little time to spend as tourists in Kyoto before heading back to Tokyo. There were several choices of places near Kyoto Station to visit, but as a group we eventually chose the Golden Pavilion or Kinkaku-ji. It was very hot and I did get a few postcard perfect photos of the Kinkaku-ji, but I really like the photo I took of a cute ema or wooden prayer board hanging nearby.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f2.8, ISO 100, 1/400 sec.

Hie Shrine

Hie Shrine is located on a hill that abuts the eastern perimeter of Akasaka. Although I've associated it with Minato-ku and nearby Akasaka, it's part of Chiyoda-ku. This shrine is the host of the June 15 Sannō Matsuri, which one of the three great Japanese festivals of Edo; however, the shrine itself is rather understated when compared to the frenetic atmosphere Sensō-ji in Asakusa or the serene Meiji Shrine in Harajuku.

It's not on my must do list but if you are in the Chiyoda-ku or Akasaka, have time and need spiritual refreshment, it worth a visit. I've made several visits myself when I lived in Akasaka and even posted about the Torii gate path in June 2012.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f8, ISO 100, 1/160 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f8, ISO 100, 1/100 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f5.6, ISO 100, 1/60 sec.

Year of the Sheep

Happy New Year and Happy Year of the Sheep or Kung Hei Fat Choy or Mǎnián dàjí.

Just like last year, I spotted this year's large sheep themed ema near the entrance to Nogi Jinja.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 16 mm, f5.6, ISO 100, 1/20 sec.

Year of the Horse

For those who follow these sorts of things, Happy New Year and Happy Year of the Horse or Kung Hei Fat Choy or Mǎnián dàjí.

Here's a horse spotted on what looks like a very large ema near the entrance to Nogi Jinja.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 24mm f/2.0 Nikkor AI @ f5.6, ISO 100, 1/100 sec.

Catching up on New Year's Hatsumode

I've been reviewing photos that taken earlier this year and should have posted, and came across a mid-January but first shrine visit of the year (or hatsumode).  Anyway, although it was the second weekend of January, the Meji Shrine was still in New Year's form.

At the main entrance from Harajuku Station, there were large bins set up to collect all of the omamori (silk sachets good luck charms) and hamaya (wooden arrows).

Nikon D700 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 17 mm, f8, ISO 200, 1/640 sec.

I'm not completely sure of the reason (perhaps it's Shinto versus Buddhist tradition), but daruma, dolls and teddy bears are not welcome and cannot be disposed of here.

Nikon D700 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 35 mm, f8, ISO 200, 1/320 sec.

As we passed through the second large torii gate, the atmosphere starts to get more festive. Around New Year's there are plenty of traditional decorations including lanterns, sake casks, and banners with the names of the sponsors.

Nikon D700 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 16 mm, f5, ISO 200, 1/125 sec.

Just outside the main shrine area you can see main temple gate with a large ema (or wooden plaque) proclaiming the year of the snake.

Nikon D700 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 30 mm, f8, ISO 200, 1/400 sec.

Nikon D700 with Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF @ 80 mm, f8.0, ISO 200, 1/200 sec.

Nikon D700 with Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF @ 200 mm, f8.0, ISO 200, 1/500 sec.

This is were you get the your hamaya (wooden arrows) for the New Year.

Nikon D700 with Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF @ 120 mm, f8.0, ISO 200, 1/20 sec.

Here are the sake casks that I was talking about earlier.

Nikon D700 with Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF @ 145 mm, f8.0, ISO 800, 1/100 sec.

The back-lit large torii gate and speckled lighting through trees at Meiji Jingu was beautiful.

Nikon D700 with Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF @ 100 mm, f5.6, ISO 640, 1/200 sec.

Year of the Dragon (part four)

Seems that there are lots of dragons hiding in plane sight here in Tokyo. Here are some more random dragons that were spotted at the Gojo Shrine in Ueno Park.

There was a selection of wooden boards or plates called ema, to write your prayers on an leave at the shrine that had dragon designs celebrating the new year.

At ¥2,000 or about $30 USD, the ema do not come cheaply at this shrine. I am used to seeing them cost about ¥500 at most shrines and find this very over priced.

There were also several dragons that formed the boarder of a large signboard on the shrine grounds.