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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 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 220 — full exif
Dispassionate Observer
deep in the mountains of Kansai, Japan
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/4, ISO 560 — full exif
I'd Love That Dude For My Garden
( if I had a garden, that is )
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 320 — full exif
Variety of Recent Dates
third from the left is dated March 26th, 1943
the one in the middle dates from July 1987
others seem to be in between
If you want visible presence at a shrine or temple, you make a donation and your name is put to something, such as the orange gates of various sizes at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, or affixed under a small statuette as at the Sanzen-in Temple, or engraved into a stone (such as a gravestone, or some kind of offering seen a bazillion times in passing on my blog, such as here and here and here).
Things such
as the wooden gates eventually rot, but stone
lasts a bit longer, so if you or your ancestors stop paying the annual
maintenance, your rock may get shipped off to a muenbotoke holding ground
— “Buddha without fate connection” (thanks, Zak, for the fixed translation) — to await the elements (or, perhaps, payment of fees).
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Great pictures! I get homesick when I see this and would love to get back to Japan. Maybe in a year or two. Keep up the publishing the great photos!
A Dutchman from Thailand
The parade of the lost. A fairly sad parking lot to the next life. It’s one thing to be memorialised, but not to be packed, stacked and racked (even if this isn’t a cemetery)
I am from Brookville, Ohio. I found your blog yesterday. I came back today. I really like your photography and your talent as a photographer. I love your blog template and how well you work seems suited for just this template. I am not always fond of black in backgrounds but will have to rethink it as it works very well in your examples.
I am or will be 77 years old. I was in the Army and stationed in Japan from the fall of 1953 until the middle of summer 1956. Sapporo from fall to spring (1953-1954) and the rest in Sendai-shi with visits to Tokyo, Yokohama, and places like Kamakura to see the Great Buddha and to Matsushima to see the then elegantly beautiful Park Hotel and the famous Kanko Hotel. Both gone to fire I think.
I have about 1000 photos of those times and at least 1000 more from fellow soldiers who were there about the same time. I have had a Japanese website and several Japanese blogs filled with photos of my experiences during the Occupation. I am starting another on Sendai and it is located at http://sendai-shi.blogspot.com/
I think what you do is beyond adjectives. I will pass your blog link on to some of my friends who are as old as me or older but who remember, with fondness their experiences in Japan.
Jeff, I. too, would “love that Dude for my garden”, which, happily, I do have.( though at this moment sleeping under a heavy blanket of snow) Would it be too much trouble for you to snag him and slip him into your suitcase when you come home to Ohio for your next visit? He appears able to hold a handful of birdfood, which would make for some nice photos if a bluebird would land on it. Thanks, dear. Love, Mom
What an intriguing place. Sad in some ways indeed. On the other hand, everything does come to an end. Love the glimpses of insight I get from your blog. Keep up the good work.
Abe Lincoln sent me over to your blog because he was blown away by your photos. I see that everything he said was true. You are amazing!
Jeff,
Abe Lincoln, who is an amazing artist in his own right, referred me to your blog. I am duly impressed with your work and have become a follower of your blog.
David C.
Dispassionate Observer is the one I want – that is pretty phenomenal stone carving. If he were in my garden, I’d get him a sun hat, and maybe put him by a table with a big glass of iced tea.
Quite shockingly, it’s not a carving, but something manufactured. He’s got a huge hole in the back of his shoulder, and through it you can see he’s hollow. I was disappointed. —Jeffy
In this case, the en does not mean “fate,” but “connection.” As in, they have no more connection to the human world, or, more bluntly, simply no one to take care of them anymore.
Hi Jeffrey,
many compliments for your works, your pictures are wonderful.
I use them as wallpaper on my computer, the iPhone and iPad2 (With your permission?) and all the friends they make me compliments on the choice and I make to you.
I ask you about on the first photograph of this page, dispassion Observer, you can know to say who this statue depicts?
Very very thanks
Best Regards
Roberto from Italy
Treviso, to 25 km to Venice with its beautiful lagoon…
I don’t know who it is, which makes it all the more of a spooky feeling. Thanks so much for your kind words! —Jeffrey