Ropes of Origami Cranes
Ropes of Paper Cranes -- Ibigun, Gifu, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/200 sec, f/5, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Ropes of Paper Cranes

A preface to today's post: I have two monitors, one that's really good (a mid-level Eizo LCD), and one that's on the high end of normal (a Dell LCD). The intense colors of the cranes make today's pictures look amazing on the Eizo, but they're utterly bland and pedestrian on the more consumer-oriented monitor. Oh well.

Entrance Gate, Tanigumisan Kegonji Temple Ibigun, Gifu Prefecture, Japan -- Ibigun, Gifu, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 23 mm — 1/160 sec, f/7.1, ISO 250 — map & image datanearby photos
Entrance Gate, Tanigumisan Kegonji Temple
Ibigun, Gifu Prefecture, Japan

As I mentioned the other day, we recently made a trip to the Tanigumisan Kegonji Temple several hours away in Gifu. In the picture above, you can see Anthony standing under the gate, just to the right of the leftmost tall white banner. Behind and around him are large bundles of strings of origami cranes.

Bundles of 1,000 Cranes Each -- Ibigun, Gifu, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 18 mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Bundles of 1,000 Cranes Each

It's likely that the larger bundles each have 1,000 cranes. The current Wikipedia entry for senbatzuru has a nice writeup about the practice.

When not in bundles of exactly 1,000, they're probably simple offerings for world peace. In Japanese culture, origami cranes have very strong connotations of peace.

Origami Waterfall from above -- Ibigun, Gifu, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 26 mm — 1/60 sec, f/4.5, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Origami Waterfall
from above
Single White Crane -- Ibigun, Gifu, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1/400 sec, f/3.5, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Single White Crane
Ibigun, Gifu, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/200 sec, f/4.5, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos

While we're at the main gate of the temple, here's a shot showing some of the detail under the eaves....

Under The Main-Gate Roof -- Ibigun, Gifu, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 31 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 — map & image datanearby photos
Under The Main-Gate Roof

I'd have loved to see the design drawings when it was being planned (and I wonder when that was; the temple itself dates from 798, but doubt this gate is more than three hundred years old).


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