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Nishimura Stone Lanterns: Garden Preview
NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

Nikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f/2 — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 280 — full exif & mapnearby photos
Imposing
Paul Barr photographs the garden / sales floor / warehouse of Nishimura Stone Lanterns
Kyoto, Japan

The other day in “Nishimura Stone Lanterns: the Workshop” I introduced the workshop of a fifth-generation stone-carving shop in north-east Kyoto that Paul Barr and I “discovered” the other day.

Next to and beside their shop are areas just teeming with a huge variety of stone carvings. I assume it's their “warehouse” and sales floor (so to speak), but I'm not really sure. It sure looked pretty if you stuck your head in a bit to look.


Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34 mm — 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 560 — full exif & mapnearby photos
View from the Street
the workshop is part of the same building, out of frame to the right

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34 mm — 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 1000 — full exif & mapnearby photos
Venturing In
just a bit

Paul is standing just behind the old discarded cutting wheels featured in the Fairly Dirty “What am I?” Quiz the other day.


Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 50 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 220 — full exif & mapnearby photos
The Side Garden

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 360 — full exif & mapnearby photos
Lots and Lots of Stuff

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 900 — full exif & mapnearby photos
The Back Garden

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 1600 — full exif & mapnearby photos
Random Stone Decorations
tucked away wherever there was space; this is in front of the house

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — full exif & mapnearby photos
Oops
closeup of the item in the bottom of the previous picture

Nikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f/2 — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 — full exif & mapnearby photos
“I Laugh at your Decomposable Body”
( I suspect that is not the thought the carver had in mind )

Nikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f/2 — 1/400 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — full exif & mapnearby photos
Older than Most
or so it seems

I use “Preview” in the title of this post because tomorrow we'll visit again. I've prearranged a chat with the carvers, and I expect we'll get to forage in the gardens with our cameras. Should be most excellent.

Continued here...


Comments so far....

“I Laugh at your Decomposable Body”

Buddy, if I had your shape, I’d WANT to decompose.

ps – No snarky responses from brothers stating “If? What do you mean; IF?”

— comment by Marcina, USA on December 4th, 2009 at 2:18am JST (2 years, 2 months ago) comment permalink

Jeffrey,

Just have to say again how great your photos are. I have shown them around the place I work and there are a number of computers here with your photos as desktops. Thanks, again.

— comment by Michael Yoder on December 4th, 2009 at 7:47am JST (2 years, 2 months ago) comment permalink

How to become stoned in one easy place. The frequent amounts of moisture have resulted in the stones becoming moss covered; it looks almost like a graveyard with stones all over the place. Now the question, are any of those stones for sale and what type of stone is used for carving? You mentioned the price for a design earlier
US$90,000 however the status perhaps of the other stones in cost or are for sale.
And my other question which may seem far-feteched; during WWII and during earthquakes were any stones
destroyed? Why all the stones in the back storage yard so to speak?

Your view of Japan is to me so different than what may or may not be portrayed elsewhere. A happy family of three
raising your seven year old son; and I wonder if said son will become totally bilngual or will he be more
English (American) speaking than Japanese?

He’s bilingual, though much better in Japanese (more slang, etc.) because he spends all day at school with 600 other native Japanese-speaking kids. —Jeffrey

— comment by Bryce Lee (I am not Asian) on December 4th, 2009 at 11:50am JST (2 years, 2 months ago) comment permalink

Once again, another treat of Kyoto goodies, with the elegant wood-carvings and other scenes at the TooFoo Shrine and the most interesting pilgrimage to the Nishimura Stone-carvers.

You certainly know where to find “the most unforgettable scenic spots” of Kyoto. Thanks for shari ng.

— comment by Father Mac on February 27th, 2011 at 7:40pm JST (11 months, 10 days ago) comment permalink
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