Japan, January–February 2006

Part of my East Asia travels, this album includes photos from Tokyo and Takayama, Kyoto, Nara, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Osaka, Kobe, Ise and Tokyo.

Stream at Todai-ji
River Trees Winter rhjf 20060202 1096
Todai-ji outer gatehouse
Buddhism Building Deer Temple Winter rhjf 20060202 1103
Todai-ji • This is purported to be the largest wooden structure in the world.
Buddhism Building Temple Winter rhjf 20060202 1110
The Buddha at Todai-ji
Buddhism Statue Temple Winter rhjf 20060202 1114
The goddess Kannon at Todai-ji • Kannon is the goddess of mercy; incidentally, it is after her that the Japanese company Canon is named.
Buddhism Statue Temple Winter rhjf 20060202 1119
Todai-ji in painting
Buddhism Painting Temple Winter rhjf 20060202 1123
View over Nara from Shoso-in
City Views Shrine Winter rhjf 20060202 1139
Water at Shoso-in • Water is provided at all temples and shrines for worshippers to perform their ablutions (that is to say, wash their hands).
Lantern Shrine Watercups Winter rhjf 20060202 1143
Lanterns and columns at Kasuga Taisha
Shrine Tombstones Winter rhjf 20060202 1145
Invocations • Invocations to the gods outside Kasuga Taisha.
Shrine Votive offering Winter rhjf 20060202 1152
Sole gold lantern • A gold lantern breaks the green monotony hanging outside one of the buildings at Kasuga Taisha.
Lantern Shrine Winter rhjf 20060202 1166 featured
Stone lantern army • An array of stone lanterns outside Kasuga Taisha. There were thousands of them.
Lantern Tombstones Winter rhjf 20060202 1180
A ray of sunshine • As the sun sets and I walk along the wooded path from Kasuga Taisha to the botanical garden in Nara, a ray breaks through the trees to shine on one lantern.
Lantern Tombstones Winter rhjf 20060202 1186 featured
Deer fountain • This fountain was outside the formal ‘deer park’ along the path from Kasuga Taisha to the botanical garden at Nara. I didn’t go in, because with my background I would be very unlikely to get in to anywhere that has a deer park. (That’s a very weak, and highly specific, joke. In fact, it’s barely a joke at all. But I’ll leave it there.)
Deer Lantern Statue Winter rhjf 20060202 1187
Rock-inscription at the Botanical Garden
Rock Winter rhjf 20060202 1207
Flowers at the Botanical Garden
Flowers Winter rhjf 20060202 1208
Deer in portrait pose • A deer stands as if expecting to be photographed along the path from the botanical garden back to the centre of Nara.
Deer Winter rhjf 20060202 1212
From the other side of the bars
Deer Winter rhjf 20060202 1215
Flags
Lantern Votive offering Winter rhjf 20060202 1217
Nagasaki (Urakami) Cathedral: sanctuary • The body of Urakami cathedral in Nagasaki. Moments after taking this photograph I was told that they don’t allow photography inside the church.
Church Cross Winter rhjf 20060204 1219
Nagasaki (Urakami) Cathedral: Lady Chapel • The Lady Chapel, completed last year, in Urakami cathedral in Nagasaki.
Altar Church Cross Statue Winter rhjf 20060204 1220
The Immaculate Conception, old and new • The preserved head of the statue of the Immaculate Conception found in the rubble of the old cathedral after the atomic bomb blast is the focal point of the new Lady Chapel at Urakami cathedral in Nagasaki. The paint on the statue would have been pulverised by the blast. A reproduction of the original statue is on the right-hand side of the chapel.
Altar Church Cross Statue Winter rhjf 20060204 1222
Stained-glass destruction • In the new extension of Urakami cathedral in Nagasaki, a stained-glass window displays the ruins of the old cathedral left by the blast of the atomic bomb in August 1945.
Church Window Winter rhjf 20060204 1226
Urakami Cathedral • The front of Urakami cathedral in Nagasaki. The lines which appear as bunting are in fact strings of lights which are turned on at night.
Church Winter rhjf 20060204 1233
Cathedral doorway • The entrance to Urakami cathedral in Nagasaki. There is a bust of Pope John Paul II at the right-hand side of the door. He visited Nagasaki in 1982.
Church Statue Winter rhjf 20060204 1235
Blasted statues • These statues were outside the original Urakami cathedral in Nagasaki which was destroyed by the atomic bomb blast. They were blackened and disfigured by the blast of the bomb.
Church Statue Winter rhjf 20060204 1236
Urakami Cathedral • Urakami cathedral in Nagasaki.
Building Church Winter rhjf 20060204 1240
Peace fountain • The fountain in the Peace Park at Nagasaki. The shape is supposed to be suggestive of a dove’s wings.
Fountain Trees Winter rhjf 20060204 1244
Peace statue • The enormous Peace Statue in the Peace Park at Nagasaki. The statue’s right hand is pointing to the sky to warn of the provenance of the bomb, and the left hand is extended to ward off the forces of evil.
Monument Statue Winter rhjf 20060204 1255
Results of the bombing of Nagasaki
Information Sign Winter rhjf 20060204 1256
Old cathedral wall translated • Some parts of Urakami cathedral in Nagasaki were left standing after the atomic bomb struck. This corner was moved to the location of the hypocentre of the bomb to be preserved there.
Church Ruins Winter rhjf 20060204 1261
Hypocentre • The single black column demonstrates the location of the hypocentre of the atomic bomb blast in Nagasaki. The bomb exploded 500m above this point.
Monument Sculpture Winter rhjf 20060204 1263
Old and new ground levels • The ground level before the atomic bomb blast was much lower than it is today (about seven or eight feet). The ground level has been heightened at this point next to the hypocentre of the bomb blast because of the amount of rubble and debris which was produced by the blast.
Information Sign Winter rhjf 20060204 1264
Memorial of the 26 Martyrs of Japan (St Paul Miki & Companions) • The main memorial to St Paul Miki & Companions, which stands outside the Museum of the 26 Martyrs of Japan, and near to the church of the 26 Martyrs.
Monument Museum Saint Winter rhjf 20060204 1272
St Paul Miki • Close up of St Paul Miki on the Memorial of the 26 Japanese Martyrs in Nagasaki: he is the central figure of these three.
Monument Museum Saint Winter rhjf 20060204 1273
Church of the 26 Japanese Martyrs • Inside the church, which is an outstandingly ugly building from the outside.
Church Museum Winter rhjf 20060204 1276
Sursum Corda • The back of the monument to St Paul Miki & Companions, which bears the inscription “Sursum corda” (‘Lift up your hearts’).
Monument Winter rhjf 20060204 1281
Oratory devoted to the 26 Martyrs of Japan (St Paul Miki & Companions) • This oratory is inside the building of the 26 Martyrs’ Museum.
Church Museum Winter rhjf 20060204 1282
Romanized Japanese Missal • This Missal was used by Pope John Paul II when he visited Nagasaki in 1981. The black text is a romanized form of the Japanese translation of the Mass; underneath in red is the original Latin. Unfortunately, the book has been kept under fluorescent light which has caused the red text to fade until it is now almost invisible.
Missal Museum Winter rhjf 20060204 1284
Japanese Nuns • Four Japanese nuns (one, very old and small, can’t be seen very clearly in this photo) pray the Litany of the 26 Martyrs at their monument.
Monument Museum Winter rhjf 20060204 1286
Nagasaki tram • One of the green-n-cream trams in Nagasaki.
Street Traffic Tram Winter rhjf 20060204 1291
Oura church • Oura church, the oldest church in Japan, is in fact dedicated to the 26 Martyrs of Japan. It is now seemingly little more than a tourist destination.
Church Winter rhjf 20060204 1296
Domus Orationis • The Domus Orationis is just next to Oura church, and appears to be the working parish church for that locality.
Church Winter rhjf 20060204 1299
Former Mitsubishi No 2 Dock House at Glover Garden • This building, the first on the prescribed route of Glover Garden, was built to lodge the crews of ships docked at the Nagasaki shipyard of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was built in 1896.
Building Museum Winter rhjf 20060205 1306
Ringer House, Glover Garden • Frederick Ringer (1840–1908) was an Englishman who came to Japan in 1864 to work for Glover & Co. He later went into business with another partner to form Holme, Ringer & Co., and was involved with the construction of the Nagasaki waterworks, importing, international trade, tea plantations, milling, and the generation of electricity.

The house is built of wood, with a stone exterior wall—it has a wide veranda and the management of Glover Garden had evidently seen fit to stuff it with rose-scented perfume.
Building Museum Winter rhjf 20060205 1309
Inside the Ringer House, Glover Garden
Building Museum Winter rhjf 20060205 1311
Alt House, Glover Garden • William Alt (1840–1905) was one of the first to come to Nagasaki when the port opened, and purchased green tea from all over the island of Kyushu (the island on which Nagasaki is built) to be exported back to the West. The house, slightly bigger than the Ringer house, was designed by the same man who built Oura church.
Building Museum Winter rhjf 20060205 1316
Statue of Tamaki Miura, Glover Garden • Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly is set in colonial Nagasaki. Tamaki Miura became famous for playing the rôle of the eponymous Madame Butterfly.
Museum Statue Winter rhjf 20060205 1319