nature

Magome is old Japanese Post Town on the old Nakasendo Road which used to connect Tokyo to Kyoto during the Edo Period (1603-1867). Travelers would stop at towns like Magome to stay the night and for checkpoint inspections as travel was highly regulated in those days.

The following is a photo montage of photos of Geibikei, a river gorge in southern Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan where you can take a flatbottom boat out on the river piloted by a singing boatsmen.

The photos are from my recent trip and a trip from a couple years earlier.

Geibikei is a scenic river gorge in the northern prefecture of Iwate where people can take flat-bottom boats piloted by singing boatmen. The boatmen guide the boats along with poles much with the gondaliers of Venice.

I was back up in Iwate again for festivals (in case you can't tell I have a thing for festivals). One of them was rescheduled later on the weekend so I had to extend my trip.

Stories of ghosts, monsters, and things that go bump in the night were the favorite past time of Japanese in olden days as a way to cool down on hot summer nights.

This story is about a greedy woodcutter who encounters a tree spirit.

Trees are or were believed to become alive after a thousand years or so.

Two years ago, when I came back from my first trip to Yakushima, I was practically frothing at the mouth, so amazed that this practically people-less island of sheer natural beauty and wonder could exist within the confines of Japan...

Rainy season may not be ideal for hiking, but sometimes you just have to take what you're given...

Last weekend I had a meeting at a printing company located in the immense Shin-minato industrial district of Chiba Port. After several hours of concentrating on software versions and file links, I was ready for some serious iyashi-style relaxation and rejuvenation. Fortunately, Inage Seaside Park (Inage Kaihin Koen) sits just west of the huge industrial zone.

They are as soft as silk, no larger than half a thumb, and conquer Japanese hearts every spring: cherry blossoms, known in Japan as "sakura."Anticipation starts building across the country in February. When the first buds open in the south-west, national euphoria breaks out.

The Japanese are so connected to Mother Nature and they appreciate this connection in a way that no other culture can come close to,(right-on brother!rem) that the effect one experiences in the best Japanese garden, often fools even the experienced mind...

The Japanese are among the world's greatest insect fans. Small boys run around with nets catching dragonflies and cicadas, and keep all sorts of beetles in plastic cages. Even adults like to watch butterflies and enjoy listening to the songs of crickets and katydids.

Have you ever seen a blue bee..?