A Nagano Temple – Part II

Here’s some more interior details from the temple outside Nagano I blogged about earlier. It’s remarkable how much are the same in churches and temples, the candles, the incense, the statues, both kind and harsh.

A Temple in Nagano – Part I

Ever since first coming to Japan I have had a fascination with temples. I quickly went around to see all the major ones in Tokyo and as my list of unvisited temples grew shorter I started asking friends to take me out to less famous, local temples around Tokyo or even farther away. Apart from learning more about Japanese history and culture one of the main attractions are the beautiful additions I can get to my collection of shuin, or hand written blessings from the resident monks. In some temples, by paying a small fee, you can buy sheets of blessings or have them write calligraphy directly into your book, the actual shuincho. But more about that in a later post.

This is a temple I visited outside of Nagano in a sleepy little village. The temple was open and quite empty so I had a few silent moments to walk around and take pictures of the beautiful statues and decorations inside. I have no way of telling how old these objects are but they all share that patina of age you’ll find in most Japanese buddhist temples. Enjoy!

Japan’s Death Valley – Part II

This gorgeous valley is actually called Hell’s Valley in Japan (地獄谷) and it is a fitting name. Here are some more photos of the more obvious signs of volcanic activities, hot springs, sulphuric gas measurement stations and close ups of sulphur (I believe that is what the green stuff is) and the oddly colored minerals in the area. Oxidized what? Someone who is good at geology must be able to fill us in. Enjoy!

The Northern Alps – Part 5

Here’s a few more pictures from my hiking trip up to the Northern Alps last month. My skin is finally recovering from the massive dose of UV I caught up there. I have not been very pretty to look at!

Here’s a few photos where you’ll see one of the abandoned mountain cabins on the trail, and one of the porters hauling supplies for the still operating mountain cabin which happens to be very close by. These guys are very strong!