Saturday, December 21, 2013
The Kitchen Table
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Today I Walked to the Sea
Today I walked to the sea.
Along the seaside trail.
Just me, myself and I...and Japan.
In my revery I buried my feet in the sand and the water.
Sayonara beautiful land,
Beautiful people.
Monday, November 18, 2013
INTERNATIONAL FOOD FAIR/GARAGE SALE Before/After
Annual school fundraiser for the International School.
BEFORE
Rachel made whoopie pies for the international dessert booth.
This is the last day of preparation for the garage sale that Rachel chaired this year.
Items are labeled,
and categorized.
Clothing is folded,
and sizes are marked.
We head for the train station from home to meet Rachel at the school.
AFTER
The fun begins. Rachel meets people at the door and leaves the task of answering questions to those who speak fluent Japanese.
See if you can find Mike in this photo.
The Food Fair in the yard of the school.
The longest line was at the Indian food booth, Mmmm... curry.
This is the international dessert booth. Rachel's whoopie pies in the lower left hand corner are almost sold out.
The elementary students assemble for a song as part of the entertainment.
Luke and Sean playing at Sean's kindergarten playground.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Ikebana (Japanese Flower Arranging) Class
Our Sensei instructing another class member. One of the neighbor's mother from Australia. This is a popular time of year in the international community for Grandmas and Grandpas to visit.
This is our arrangement after Sensei fixed it up a little. In the background; Thea from England and Kristin from Wisconsin.
This is the one Sensei did.
This is the finished product of our class.
Friday, November 08, 2013
Buddhist Temple Grounds
After our hike over the mountain and a short train ride we stroll through a business area that takes us to the Suma-dera temple grounds.
This is a local temple in Kobe with historical importance. The building behind Rachel and Dad is the entrance gate.
Entrance gates have statues that pay homage to warriors. Back in the 800's warriors were VIPs.
All the entrance gates to the temples we have seen so far have a bay on each side with a statue of a warrior.
The temple was erected in 886 under Emperor Koko. This was the time of the Gempei Wars. Samurai appeared around the year 900. The Samurai clans boasting the greatest influence were the Taira and the Minamoto. A major battle took place in Kobe. The winners, the Minamoto clan went on to establish the Kamakura Shogunate. It was from there that Japan transitioned toward a society that centered around samurai.
The Tale of Heike tells of duel between Taira no Atsumori and Kumagai Naozane set in the area around Suma-dera. Dad and Rachel are in front of the depiction of this battle. The waves and sand are created by painting gravel.
Kumagai Naozane, although agonizing that the young commander of the Taira clan is the same age as his own child, kills him.
That young samurai's identity was not known at the moment of his death.
But on his waist he was carrying the famed flute Aoba-the possession of the celebrated flutist Taira no Atsumori.
It is said that Naozane, in anguish over what his duties as a samurai entailed, abandoned his position and became a monk.
Atsumori's burial mound is here at Suma-dera. His flute along with other items of the clans are on display here.
We are leaving the garden area.
Here I'm tying to figure out what photos I can delete so I have more room on my card for this amazing place.
This is the area leading to the cemetery.
A three story pagoda.
They don't cater to tourists here so there is no English on signs to explain what we see here.
The grave sites are exquisite. They each have a place to make offerings.
I don't know the significance of these rocks or what the writing says but in typical Japanese style it is beauty made from simplicity.
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