Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Racking my brains... (頭をひねってる。。。)

Trying to think of a suitable topic for this week's post.

So far, I'm drawing something of a blank, in case you were wondering.

... yup, yup, total blank. I don't even have any exciting pictures to share in yet another round of "hide the lack of content with shiny things."

... wait just a minute. Not having the original source material by no means renders the principal unsound! I can put it into practice with whatever is readily available!

Genius! It's genius I say!

... now, what do I have readily available...

...

...

Ah ha.


Pictures from 伊勢神宮 (Ise jingu; Ise Shrine.) The jackpot.

I had forgotten all about my little jaunt over that-a-way in the end of December... Silly me.

Ahem.

Above, we have the main 鳥居 (torii), or Shinto gateway to the shrine. I was going for artistic... But I'll let you be the judge of that.

I like clouds.


And why wouldn't you, really?

... although these shots may very well be irrefutable evidence in the case against my bid for a stint in professional photography.

Oh well, I think they're pretty.


The bridge over the river into the shrine. Not very crowded at the end of December... that doesn't happen until January. Then, hold onto your socks. (Or tabi, as the case may be.)


An old, Miyazaki-esque (in my mind) torii further in. I had to stop and hold my camera at a bit of a weird angle to keep people out of this shot, but I think it's worth it. They'd totally spoil the feel of things.

... and just now I notice those obaa-san in the corner. Curses. This picture has just been downgraded from mystical shot of wonder to bland tourist photo #3452. Poop.


You can't take pictures of the actual shrine (apparently Amaterasu doesn't really go for that sort of thing), but this is pretty cool. No clue what it is, but hey. Pretty is as pretty does.

And last but not least...


The 洋服の青山 which I distinctly remember from our trip to Ise during AKP. It stood out to me from my seat on the bus and said "Behold: this is the inaka. Think of me as you return to your urban wonderland, and remember my people."

... who knew I'd be living less than an hour away in the years to come.

That's not really irony. But it's interesting anyway.

This is Edo, signing off with a whole folder of Ise pictures that she can pull out at a moment's notice. Moo ha ha.

1 comment:

Japan Australia said...

Love the first picture with the clouds in the background. Great shot!! Ise Shrine is one of the big tourist sites in Mie and not a bad place to check out if you are in the area.