12.30.2015

HOKUSAI ukiyo-e JAPAN (origin of manga)  葛飾北斎 浮世絵















浮世絵師の葛飾北斎。

19才から様々な画法を学んだことが北斎の画風に大きな影響を与えたと言われており、

代表作は「冨嶽三十六景」シリーズ。

晩年の作品では、単に景観や人々の生活を描写するのではなく、ひとつの対象物に

どのくらいの見方があり、どう変化をみせるのかに注目している点も興味深い。

西洋絵画にも大きな影響を与え、日本に於いてはマンガの原点とも言われているそうです。




Hokusai Katsushika of ukiyo-e (1760-1849)
Hokusai is perhaps the Japanese artist best known.
Paintings of Hokusai is also the origin of japanese comic.
His influence has extended from the Impressionists to later modern art and even to commercial design.
 the "Great Wave" and the "Red Fuji" from the Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji represent only a tiny action of Hokusai's output. The pages of the Sketches, with their teeming humanity and their boundless interest in the details of everyday life, give only a small idea of his true scope. Hokusai's life was characterized by a prodigious energy and productivity that continued to the end of his ninth decade; his output comprises a correspondingly broad variety of genres and styles.
























                                

12.25.2015

KAGURA Mai 神楽:浦安の舞 靖国神社













神楽:浦安の舞は1940年(昭和15年)11月10日「皇紀二千六百年奉祝会」の当日午前10時には全国一斉に奉奏されたそうです。

浦安の舞は、舞姫(巫女)によって一人舞、二人舞、四人舞で舞われる女舞で、正式には四人舞。

舞の前半は扇舞、後半は鈴舞。

靖国神社:秋の夜長参拝2015年。





KAGURA is sacred music and dancing performed at shrines.

There is the history more than 1,000 years.

KAGURA Mai have been made in a variety of shrine even today.










12.22.2015

Night View ODAIBA TOKYO   お台場の夜景 東京













東京お台場の夜景。

夕暮れる空の色と水辺に映るネオンの光が美しい。

温泉を都内で体験できる”大江戸温泉物語”などもあり、

海外から観光でいらした方々にも喜ばれるスポットです。


■大江戸温泉物語公式サイト:http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/daiba/index.html





Odaiba is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo.
There is ”Oedo Onsen Monogatari” ONSEN(Hot Springs)Entertainment
■Official site:http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/en/top/

It was initially built for defensive purposes in the 1850s, dramatically expanded during the late 20th century as a seaport district, and has developed since the 1990s as a major commercial, residential and leisure area. Odaiba, along with Minato Mirai 21 in Yokohama, are two of the only places in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan area where the seashore is accessible, and not blocked by industry and harbor areas.









12.21.2015

IMPERIAL BONSAI at THE IMPERIAL PALACE in JAPAN (with details)  















皇居には大道庭園と呼ばれる盆栽仕立て場があり、

約90種、600点の盆栽を培養しているそうです。

なかには樹齢数100年という名品も多い。


皇居の盆栽の特徴は3つ。

・大型盆栽の多さ

・人工的技術を抑えた自然重視の形づくり

・樹齢100年を超す年代物ぞろいという点。

これらが現代的盆栽とはひと味違う圧倒的な品格を醸し出す理由とされ、

多くの愛好者の憧れとなっているようです。








Graceful and elegant works are at the Imperial Palace in TOKYO JAPAN.
There is a bonsai works called "Omichi Teien Garden" at the Imperial Palace. 
About 600 bonsai pieces of some 90 species of plants are cultivated there. 
Among them are many hundreds-of-year-old trees. Bonsai at the Imperial Palace is characterized by three major features --
many large bonsai works, nature-oriented bonsai formations that hold down artificial techniques as much as possible, and a number of antique trees aged more than 100.
These are believed to have added overwhelming elegance to bonsai works at the palace that are different from modern bonsai works.
Many bonsai lovers long to see bonsai pieces at the palace.






















12.19.2015

・Popular SUSHI Restaurant "KIZUNA" OSAKA JAPAN 大阪人気店  鮨きずな













大阪都島区にある人気の寿司屋。

職人技が光る御鮨は感動的。

お任せコースは種類も豊富で、お腹いっぱいになります。

お酒もいただいて1人約10,000~15,000円位。 予約必須。





Popular SUSHI restaurant in Osaka.
Splendid course menu and Japanese sake:about JPY10,000~15,000.
Originally, sushi was fish pickled for preservation.
But in the Edo period, people in Edo started using fresh fish instead of pickled fish.
They put raw fish slices or shellfish on top of small vinegared rice balls which were rolled
by hand.
This is called “ nigiri-zushi” typically known as “sushi” in Japan and all over the world.

























12.18.2015

・BONSAI grown up condition (10~100 years old) 五葉松の成長










五葉松の成長(10~100年)

10年では未だ小さな鉢植えですが、12年、17年・・と時を経て、

90年、100年になると立派な盆栽になります。

時間と共に姿を変える盆栽は、生きた芸術品と実感されられます。




GOYO-MATSU is Japanese white pine.

Grown up condition (10~100 years old)














12.17.2015

・TAKOYAKI Fried octopus dough balls OSAKA JAPAN  大阪のたこ焼き














大阪道頓堀のたこ焼き屋さん。

クルクル回しながら作る作業は、見ていても楽しいですね。




TAKOYAKI is round pastry stuffed with diced octopus.
It is fun to see the work to make it while turning the TAKOYAKI.
Please try to eat when you came to Japan!

TAKOYAKI is casual Japanese food, often eaten as snacks, often eaten as snacks.
It is a kind of fried dumpling made of a wheat flour base batter.
The word “Takoyaki” literally means ‘fried/grilled octopus’.
It is typically filled with minced octopus, scallions, “Beni-Shoga” (pickled ginger), and
“Tenkasu” (scraps of tempura). “Takoyaki” is cooked using a special
“Takoyaki” pan, which is an iron griddle having a half spherical molds.






























12.15.2015

・Ginkgo Trees Avenue, TOKYO JAPAN   イチョウ並木 明治神宮外苑  東京
















11月下旬~12月上旬にかけて色付く、北青山 絵画館前のイチョウ並木。

毎年11月中旬~12月上旬まで「いちょう祭り」を行っていますが、

温暖化の影響もあり、今年は例年以上に色付くのが遅かったですね。


東京都港区北青山1~2丁目(イチョウ並木)
東京メトロ:青山1丁目駅から徒歩約5分。





There are lines of ginkgo trees in Japan.

The trees are changing their color from green to yellow  around this season.
                          (Late November -early December)

This video is from the gardens around Meiji Shrine,
 and this scenery continues for 300 meters.

They bear lots of  ginkgo nuts.

 The nuts don't smell good but if you taste them, they are yummy.






































12.13.2015

・KYOTO Autumn leaves 京都の紅葉 北野天満宮












京都北野天満宮の紅葉は11月中旬から12月上旬ごろが見頃です。
 
12月上旬(第1週位)まではライトアップされ、紅葉に覆われた庭園は息をのむ美しさです。 

2015年は温暖なこともあり、例年ほど赤く色付かなかったそうですが、赤、黄色、緑など、
様々に色づいた葉が幻想的な空間を演出していました。

ファインダーに入りきらない程、広域に渡り紅葉と自然の美しさを堪能できる場所です。




KYOTO. Especially, the cherry blossoms in spring and the colored leaves in autumn are highly recommended.
The colored leaves in Kyoto in autumn are just spectacular!
The high season for autumn leaves is roughly between the mid-November to the beginning of December.

The Kitano Tenmangu Shrine is a shrine built in the northwest section of Kyoto over 1000 years ago. The shrine was built during 947AD by the emperor of the time in honor of Sugawara no Michizane, a scholar and politician who represented the middle Heian period (794 AD – 1185 AD), as well as for the peace of the nation. Ever since, the imperial family, nobles, samurais and commoners alike all visit the shrine to worship.
The Kitano Tenmangu Shrine is the very first shrine in Japanese history where an actual person was enshrined as a deity.






音楽:MUSMUS