All Kinds of Shrines

~One of my favorite subjects for photography are the gates that lead into Shinto shrines. As you might remember, these ceremonial gates are called torii gates. "Tori" means bird (the extra "i" means place), and as birds are the messengers of the gods in Japanese folklore, these gates are supposed to be places for birds to rest and deliver their divine messages.

That being said, I find the gates to be very photogenic. There are tens of thousands of shrines all over Japan, and no two shrines, or gates, are alike. Here are some of the more interesting torii gates that I've come across during my time in Japan:

^ This impressive double-gate is located at a shrine close to my neighborhood. Note the scroll design in the middle with kanji on it. This shrine is always well-maintained and seems to be quite popular.

^ This huge but rather bare-bones gate leads into what I'm quite sure is the largest shrine in Nagaoka. It's just a minute's drive from Nagaoka Station, and is adjacent to a large playground.

^ This small "cute" shrine is in the middle of a rice field along the banks of the Shinano River that bisects Nagaoka. For comparison, the object in the background is a water pump with a handle, making this torii gate about as tall as I am. That is to say, not very tall.

^ This imposing gate was undergoing some kind of maintenance when I took this picture. It's located at the entrance of a large shrine in the northern part of the city, where an annual horseback archery contest is held. I wanted to go, but work beckoned to me with its siren song of steady employment.

^ This forested shrine has an old-world feel to it, with dappled sunlight reaching through the trees (now bare, as I took this picture months ago). Can you see the kanji carved into the left and right posts of the gate? Beyond, there are several large stone lanterns. And don't forget the traffic cone.

^ Another small shrine, this one wedged between two narrow Japanese houses and abutting a large apartment building. Small neighborhood shrines such as this are not uncommon, and in my mind they add some charm to otherwise drab areas.

^ This "playground shrine" is near the shopping district of Nagaoka. Whenever I ride my bicycle by this gate, I always see lots of children playing in the playground to the left.

^ A small-yet-ornate shrine just outside of Yukyuzan Park. The gold scroll in the middle of the gate is impressive, as are the guardian statues that you can just make out in their boxes beyond.

^ Deep in a seemingly-endless residential sprawl lies this shrine, with a bone-white torii gate. I think the top of the gate could use a bit of work and perhaps a coat of paint or two. Note the barrier to keep cars from driving inside!

That's it for now. I hope the New Year has gotten off to an auspicious start for everyone. ~Oyasumi!

Indy 4

~For the past few days, I've been struck by a debilitating flu that has, unfortunately, restricted my vacation quite a bit. But I take these things in stride, so it's all good. Actually, the great deal of extra time I've found myself with has enabled me to catch up on a number of important issues, such as this one:

Indiana Jones is back!

According to George Lucas, a script for "Indiana Jones 4" has finally been accepted, and filming will begin this year. Harrison Ford will return as Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones for a fourth time. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical at first when I read the article on CNN. Ford is in his mid-sixties; can he really pull off the bullwhip-cracking, Nazi-punching, cultist-shooting archaeologist that we all know and love? Upon further reflection, I believe that it can indeed be done. With a little luck, we may even get Sean Connery to return as Dr. Henry Jones Sr.

My only concern here is that Lucas might turn Indy 4 into a CGI-fest the way he did with the Star Wars prequels. Real people and real objects, even if they're just models, are always preferable to me. Take, for example, Aliens, or the first Star Wars movie, both of which used many special effects consisting mainly of models. Amazingly, when you watch these decades-old films, they still look good. Whereas the special effects in the Star Wars prequels, however much they may dazzle audiences today, will soon be outdated by ever-more-impressive computer animation. I think this page says it best.

So what's an Indy fan to do to while away the hours until the movie is released? Well, there are rides like "Temple of the Crystal Skull". There are also fan films. The most impressive and ambitious effort I've seen so far is "Treasure of the Templars", a feature-length fan-produced film that actually looks reasonably good. It's still in production, but here's the trailer:

^ It's not exactly Paramount Pictures, but admit it: this looks like fun. It will be interesting to see the finished product. So let's all wait a bit longer for one more round of Indy goodness, hopefully involving significant amounts of Nazi-bashing, treasure-finding, and of course, memorable one-liners. ~Oyasumi!

I Have The Greatest Friends In The World

~For New Year's, some friends back in North Carolina put together a video for me. Some people are having difficulty watching it on YouTube, so I might as well put it up here as well:


^ Thanks everyone! You're the best! See you in a few months. ~Oyasumi.

Happy 2007

~Everyone, Oshogatsu Omedetou (Happy New Year!). The first day of January is the most important day in the Japanese calendar, and is also a holiday. Unlike some of the more raucous holidays, New Year's Day is a day of rest and relaxation. Everything is supposed to be clean and tidy (presumably done before the holiday), while on the day itself, people are supposed to relax and do no work.

As a result, Nagaoka is completely dead, with every nonessential business closed down, with the notable exception of the ubiquitous convenience stores. Although, one could make a strong argument for them being essential...

Anyway, it's a fine spring day here, or at least that's what it feels like. The weak snowfall has melted off already, and the city didn't even have to deploy it's now-legendary road sprinklers. However, the surrounding mountains are now quite lovely, so I took some pictures to share:

^ As I've mentioned before, Nagaoka is not a beautiful city, but it is in a beautiful location. The word Nagaoka (長岡) means "long hill", an appropriate designation for the long, low mountain chains that go around the city on two sides.

^ Another colorful sunset over the hills. The small tower on the right has something to do with controlling the fireworks during the summer festival, but at present it's locked up and inaccessible.

^ Here is a panoramic image of the mountains to the east of Nagaoka. Please click on the image to make it larger. The darkening on the right side is not an optical error, but rather the shadow of the large cloud bank from the previous picture.

Again, I hope everyone had/is having a relaxing and enjoyable New Year's Day. I imagine that many of you partook of a bit too much bubbly last night and are sleeping it off as you write this. But remember: in Japan, it's customary to watch the sun rise on the first day of the year*. ~Oyasumi!

(*Disclaimer: I slept until 11:30 am this morning. And a good morning it was.)