3333, 3339, 3372, 3398 JAPAN (Kansai) - Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji in Kyoto

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Founded in Kyoto by the monk Shinshō (797-873), a pupil of Kūkai, as part part of the Shingon sect, Eikan-dō (View of Eternity Hall) is the head temple for the Seizan branch of Japan's Jōdo-shū Buddhist sect. Formally known as Zenrin-ji (Temple in a Calm Grove), it is famous for its fall foliage and for its prominence in the past as a center of learning. Its buildings, most of them connected by covered walkways and staircases, are scattered among a range of heights. It also has two other names: Shōju-raigō-san (Mountain where the saints welcome you), while Muryōsu-in (Temple of Immeasurable Fortune).

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In the 11th century, it had a popular head priest named Eikan, who is credited with acquiring the temple's main object of worship, an unusual statue of the Amida Buddha with his head turned sidewards. According to legend, Eikan was walking through the temple one day, when the statue, which was originally facing forward, turned its head towards the priest and talked to him. In the 13th century, a later head priest converted the temple to the Jodo sect.

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Eikando's main buildings are built alongside the base of the hillside and are connected by wooden corridors. The first building that visitors enter is the Shakado (Hall of the historical Buddha) with a small rock garden and beautifully painted sliding doors (fusuma). Walking through the corridors, visitors also pass by the Miedo which enshrines the Jodo sect's founder Honen and the Amidado (Amida Hall) which houses the Amida statue.

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The temple most recognizable building is its Tahōtō Pagoda, which is nestled in the trees on the hillside above the temple's other buildings. Its style pagoda are two story structures, whose first stories are square and second stories are round. Visitors can walk up to the pagoda, from where the rest of the temple grounds and the city of Kyoto can be seen. The view from the pagoda is particularly attractive in autumn, when the maple trees of the temple grounds are changing colors.

0731, 3324 JAPAN (Kantō) - Kaminarimon, the outer gate of Sensō-ji, in Tokyo

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Posted on 10.07.2013, 01.01.2020
The Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) is the outer of the two large entrance gates that leads to the Sensō-ji, an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo, actually Tokyo's oldest temple. It was first built in 941, near to Komagata, but it was reconstructed in its current location in 1635. The gate has been destroyed many times, in 1639, 1757, and 1865, each time being, of course, reconstructed. Its current structure dates from 1960.

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On the front of the gate are displayed  the statues of the Shinto gods Fūjin (the god of wind) on the east side, and Raijin (the god of thunder), on the west side. On the reverse of the gate are the Buddhist god Tenryū, and the goddess Kinryū. In the center of the Kaminarimon, under the gate, hangs a giant red chōchin that is 4m tall, 3.4m in circumference and weighs 670kg.

2940 JAPAN (Kantō) - Mitsutouge Mountain

The group of Kaiun Mountain (1785ｍ), Osutaka Mountain (1775ｍ), and Kenashi Mountain (1732ｍ) is called Mitsutouge Mountain as a whole. It is known for large-flowered Cypripedium's spontaneous growth, and it is the wild plant's treasure house. Many photo enthusiasts come here every year, to see Mount Fuji which shows various faces according to the time and season. Byobu-rock ledge is the popular rock-climbing spot attracts many climbers from all over the country.

2842 JAPAN (Kantō) - Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station is a railway station in the Marunouchi business district of Chiyoda, being the main intercity rail terminal in Tokyo. It is also the busiest station in Japan in terms of number of trains per day (over 3,000), and the fifth-busiest in Eastern Japan in terms of passenger throughput (415,908 passengers daily). Its façade on the western side is brick-built, surviving from the time when the station opened in 1914. The main station consists of 10 island platforms serving 20 tracks, raised above street level running in a north-south direction.

2593 JAPAN - Thunder God

Ogata Kōrin (1658-1716) was a painter of the Rinpa school, which flourished in Kyōto, Nara, and Ōsaka, i.e., the political and cultural triangle of ancient Japan. He broke away from all tradition and developed an original and distinctive style, both in painting and in the decoration of lacquer. The characteristic of this is a bold impressionism, which is expressed in few and simple highly idealized forms, with an absolute disregard for naturalism and the usual conventions.

2495 JAPAN (Kantō) - The Art of Living

2495 An interior of a house from Tokyo Area in 1970

In October 1945, when he arrived in Tokyo as part of the Allied forces occupying Japan, Charles Egbert Tuttle, Jr. didn't know that this experience will change his life completely. He spent a while helping the Japanese newspaper industry, then he married with a Japanese woman who belonged to a wealthy family from Hokkaidō. In 1948 founded his publishing company in Tokyo, with the mission to publish "books to span the East and West."

2321 JAPAN (Kantō) - Minato Mirai 21 in Yokohama

2321 Minato Mirai 21 in Yokohama, with Landmark Tower
in center and Mount Fuji in background

When Japan emerged from centuries of isolation in the mid-19th century, Yokohama was a tiny fishing village, home to only 100 people or so. But as the tide of internationalization rose, a port was established and Yokohama began to grow as a gateway to Japan. Yokohama is now a leading international trading port, the second largest city in Japan after Tokyo. Situated just a short distance along the coast from the Japanese capital, Yokohama is now a magnet for tourists.

2078 JAPAN (Kyūshū) - Sakurajima Volcano

Sakurajima (lit. "Cherry Island") is an active stratovolcano and a former island, which was connected with the Osumi Peninsula through the lava flows of the 1914 eruption. The volcanic activity still continues, dropping large amounts of volcanic ash on the surroundings. As of September 2015, the volcano is under a Level 3 (orange) alert by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The summit of Sakurajima has three peaks, Kita-dake (northern peak, the highest - 1,117m), Naka-dake (central peak) and Minami-dake (southern peak) which is active now.

1984, 1985 JAPAN (Kyūshū) - Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region (UNESCO WHS)

1984 Ōura Church

Christianity was introduced in Japan by Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier in 1549 and spread rapidly in the western part of the nation. The Jesuits established their mission base in Nagasaki, where a port of foreign trade with Portugal was developed. The city of Nagasaki played an important role as a key base for the missionary work in Japan. Churches and Christian culture flourished here, and the Young Delegates of Tenshō set off from Nagasaki in 1582 for Europe, where they had an audience with the Pope.

1985 Monument of the 26 Martyrs

With the Tokugawa shogunate's anti-Christian policy which banned the religion, Christianity was severely suppressed, resulting in the revolt against the regime in 1637. During the prohibition on Christianity, adherents moved to remote islets and islands where they passed down from generation to generation the traditions of baptism and orasho (the prayers and hymns originally taught by the Jesuit missionaries and passed down orally) and continued in their faith until the ban was lifted in the Meiji period (1868-1912).

1981 JAPAN (Kyūshū) - Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum

1981 Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum - A replica of the
Urakami Cathedral side wall after the atomic bombing.

As it is widely known, during WWII, the American  atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second and, to date, last city in the world to experience a nuclear attack. As a remembrance of this, in April 1996 was completed Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, replacing the deteriorating International Culture Hall. The museum covers the history of the event as a story, focusing on the attack and the history leading up to it.

1953 JAPAN (Chūbu) - Fisherman and his son casting a net at Kajikazawa

Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period, influenced by painters as Sesshu and other styles of Chinese painting, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is best known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, created both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji. The series depicts Mount Fuji from different locations and in various seasons and weather conditions.

1816 JAPAN (Shikoku) - Pilgrims in Shōdo Island

Located in the Inland Sea of Japan, the Shōdo Island (Island of Small Beans) is a popular destination for domestic tourism, firstly due to its natural features such as the Dobuchi Strait (the world's narrowest strait - 9.93 m), the Angel Road, Shōdoshima Olive Park and the Kanka Gorge. In addition, tourists are attracted to a miniature version of the 88-temple Shikoku Pilgrimage (124km compared to 1,200km), which begins near Sakate Port and visits in a clockwise fashion 88 temples across the island. The route can be completed in a one-week visit, easier on pilgrims (henro) and tourists alike.

1526 JAPAN (Kansai) - Gagaku (UNESCO ICH)

In this postcard is a Bugaku dance performance (accompanied by a Gagaku orchestra) at Ise Jingū (Ise Shrine), probably during the Spring Kagura Festival. Gagaku (lit. "elegant music") is the oldest of the Japanese performing arts and encompasses three distinct arts: Kuniburi no Utamai (Shinto religious music and folk songs and dance, accompaniment by harp and flute), Komagaku (played as a dance accompaniment and uses only winds and percussion instruments), and Utamono (danced to vocal music whose texts include Japanese folk songs and Chinese poems). It was introduced into Japan with Buddhism from China, and has been performed at the Imperial Court in Kyoto for several centuries. Influenced by the politics and culture of different periods, Gagaku continues to be transmitted in the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency. It is not only an important cultural tool in confirming Japanese identity, but also a demonstration of how multiple cultural traditions can be fused into a unique heritage.

1467 JAPAN (Shikoku) - Koi in Ritsurin Garden

In Japanese culture, garden-making is a high art, equal to the arts of calligraphy and ink painting. Gardens are considered three-dimensional textbooks of Daoism and Zen Buddhism, and that's why they are very different in style from occidental gardens. They were developed under the influences of the Chinese gardens, but gradually Japanese garden designers began to develop their own aesthetics, based on Japanese materials and Japanese culture. The ability to capture the essence of nature makes the Japanese gardens distinctive and appealing to observers. They can be categorized into three types: tsukiyama (hill gardens), karesansui (dry gardens) and chaniwa gardens (tea gardens).

1457 JAPAN (Chūbu) - Japanese macaques in the hot springs of Jigokudani Monkey Park

The largely temperate Japan has its own endemic species of monkey, which comes as a surprise to those who associates these mammals with tropical and sub-tropical areas. In fact, these monkeys are unusual in being among the northernmost of all non-human primates. The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species found on three of the four main Japanese islands (Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu), in a variety of habitats. The total population has been estimated to be 114,431 monkeys, and the northernmost point where they live is the Shimokita Peninsula, on Honshu island. In modern times, they have lost their fear of humans and have increased their presence in both rural and urban areas, with one macaque recorded living in central Tokyo for several months.

1426 JAPAN (Chūgoku) - The Hirose Family, Hiroshima, 1987

"Families Struth discovered parallels with his street scenes in the classic family portrait, moved here too by the desire to invoke the unfamiliar and the unconscious from behind a clichéd and generic surface. His family portraits are always taken under the same conditions: the initiative must come from the artist (with a very few exceptions, Struth’s portraits are not commissioned); the family in question, in consultation with Struth himself, determine the location for the shoot and its framing in their garden or home; finally, while it is up to the family to decide on how to arrange themselves and what poses to strike, they are always asked to look directly into the camera." it says on the website of Kunsthaus Zürich, an art gallery in the Swiss city of Zürich.

1342 JAPAN (Kyūshū) - Mount Aso

Mount Aso, located in Aso Kujū National Park, is the largest active volcano in Japan, and is among the largest in the world, with one of the largest calderas (25km north-south and 18km east-west), which contains the city of of Aso as well as Aso Takamori-cho and South Aso-mura. The central cone group consists of five peaks: Mt. Neko, Mt. Taka (the highest, with 1592m), Mt. Naka (also called Nakadake or Naka-Dake), Mt. Eboshi, and Mt. Kishima. Only the northernmost crater has been active for the last 70 years, last time in 2011. Viewpoints from the somma overlooking the caldera are perched upon lava formed before the volcanic activity which created the present caldera. Ejecta from the huge caldera eruption 90,800 years ago covers more than 600 km³ and roughly equals the volume of Mt. Fuji; it is presumed that the pyroclastic flow plateau covered half of the island of Kyūshū.

1206 JAPAN (Kyūshū) - Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival

Hakata Gion Yamakasa is a Japanese festival celebrated from 1 to 15 July in Hakata, Fukuoka. Its rites centre is on Kushida Jinja, a Shinto shrine dedicated to Amaterasu and Susanoo, founded in 757. It has a seven hundred and fifty year history, attracts up to a million spectators, and in 1979 was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. The sound of the Kaki Yamakasa has been selected by the Ministry of the Environment as one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan. It is famous for a 5km race through the streets of Hakata, in which compete teams of men bearing on their shoulders yamakasa, which are large 1-ton floats elaborately decorated.

1096 JAPAN (Kansai) - Maiko girls in Gion, Kyoto

Probably that, together with the samurai, geisha are the most distinctive symbol of Japan. Geisha are traditional Japanese female entertainers who act as hostesses and whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music, dance and games. Apprentice geisha in western Japan, especially Kyoto, are called maiko (literally "dance child") or hangyoku ("half-jewel" - meaning that they are paid half of the wage of a full geisha), or by the more generic term o-shaku (literally "one who pours (alcohol)"). A woman entering the geisha community doesn't have to begin as a maiko, having the opportunity to begin her career as a full geisha. A woman above 21 is considered too old to be a maiko and becomes a full geisha upon her initiation into the geisha community.

1010 JAPAN (Chūbu) - Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, known also as the "Roof of Japan", is a famous mountain sightseeing route between the cities Tateyama and Ōmachi, in the center of the island of Honshu. The route, opened in 1971, is just 37km in length, but the vertical interval is as large as 1,975m. The route is carefully built so that the surrounding environment is not damaged. Consequently, three lines go entirely under tunnels. Among them, two are trolleybus lines, the only ones in use in Japan. The route goes through Tateyama in the Hida Mountains with a lot of scenic sites, including Kurobe dam. Currently, the route is purely a sightseeing one, only used by tourists, especially that the Tateyama Kurobe area is a national park with protected flora and fauna.