I absolutely adore the bullet train - they're like aeroplanes on rails. The above photo is of the E2 series Asama shinkansen, which took us from Tokyo to Nagano in under 2 hours, at a top speed of 160 mph.
The Pilot
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canon
Upon Reflection
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Sometime last week, though I can't remember when, the clouds briefly parted and a few rays of sunlight burst through the gap.
I ventured out with my NEX-7 and Canon FD 50mm lens, to the pond next to my office building. Some of the trees have started their descent into fall colours already.
It had been raining not long before, an there remained a significant amount of water on the leaves of the numerous trees surrounding the lake. I didn't have to wait long to take the below photograph, though perhaps upon reflection I should have waited for another drop, more central to the frame.
Tengu & Mt. Takao
in Blog, photo-journal
Yesterday, I took my brother to visit Mt. Takao, on the western edge of Tokyo. It was my brother's first time to visit the mountain, and I thought it might make a nice break from the extreme hustle-bustle and crowds of Tokyo.
The above picture shows the image of Tengu imprinted on an Ema, a wooden plaque on which worshippers write their wishes at shinto shrines.
Tengu (天狗, "heavenly dog") are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yōkai (supernatural beings)). Although they take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou), the tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is widely considered the tengu's defining characteristic in the popular imagination.
I last visited Takao in October last year, when the weather was much cooler and the long-range visibility significantly better. However, the late afternoon sunlight broke through the trees and lit our way in a very pleasing manner.
My brother at the shrine
It was a very hot day, but the trees provided welcome shading from the intense heat of the sun.
Suspension bridge across the valley
We finished off our 3-hour hike with a "2-hour-all-you-can-drink & all-you-can-eat" buffet near the summit. In typical Japanese fashion, no-one was taking advantage of the facilities, or being disorderly. I suppose I'm a bit of a cynic, but I can't see an all-you-can-drink/eat buffet lasting very long in the UK before it was shut down due to health and safety concerns, or drunk people destroying it.
I definitely recommend a trip to Mt. Takao, if you have time. It can be easily and cheaply accessed from central Tokyo, via the Keio line. It's a day trip which leaves one feeling completely removed from the neons and 24-life of the city.
Showers | NEX-7 & Canon nFD 50mm F1.4 | 50mm f/5.6 1/3s ISO100
Showers
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Showers are the theme for June. Rain showers, and bathroom showers. It's almost constantly raining at the moment, and is predicted to continue raining for as long as weather forecasts dare... erm, forecast. The rain's fine, really. I am from the UK, after all. I lived in Manchester for 7 years, which is famous for its near-constant rain. It's the elevated temperatures and humidity that are the killer in Japan during tsuyu, the rainy season.
Just look at that forecast!
You wake up, sticky. You shower. Within 5 minutes of leaving an air-conditioned room, you want a shower. You arrive at work, feeling as if you've jogged the entire way wearing a polyester shell suit. You go through the entire day wishing you were in a desert, or some kind of arid landscape. Occasionally you think back 6 months, when you were wearing moisturiser due to the severe dryness, a scarf, a duffel coat, and shivering in the street. Rushing into the relative warmth of the trains with their heated seats. How on earth can this be the same place?