Imperial Palace, Tokyo Station: Jan.10, 2025

The year of 2025 started. 

I had business in the central part of Tokyo and walked around the Imperial Palace. It was a beautiful day.

I enjoyed the senary of the Outer Gardens of the palace. There are hundreds of pine trees there. Skyscrapers stand beyond the trees.

Many people visit the Imperial Palace, including the Outer Gardens, in the first days of year. The places were not so crowded today.

I met some joggers, foreign tourist and Japanese visitors.

A group of foreign visitors were taking photos with the bridge (Nijubashi) to the main gate.

The Tokyo Station area was not so crowded either.

The new year holidays officially ended on January 7th in Tokyo. However, I found signs to celebrate the year here and there.

 

 

 

 

 

Hakone: Dec 26-27, 2024

 

I visited Hakone to relax my year-end days in the hot spring.

I stayed in the Moto-Hakone district, which locates in the south-east side of Lake Ashi (Ashinoko).

 

There is Hakone Shrine in the district. The main gate of the shrine is built on the lake. (See the top photo)

I found many people making a queue to take good photos.

 

People walk up steep stairs from the lake to the main shrine on a hill. There are tall cedar trees at the sides of the stairs.

 

There is another approach to the shrine. Several gates stand on the approach.

 

Preparation for a new year was underway in the main building on a hill.

 

The dragon-shaped sculptures at the shrine fountain were impressive.

 

There remains an old Tokaido street of the Edo era in this area. Cedar trees are preserved on both sides of the street. (See also the 2nd photo)

Old atmosphere remains in this part.

Old street has been converted to modern national route in this part. Ceder trees stand at the sided of the road. (See the 3rd photo)

 

I visited Hakone several times. One of my visits was made in 2011 as a part of my Tokaido Walk from Tokyo to Kyoto. (See Tokaido Walk's Hakone page on May, 2011) 

I found some changes in Hakone in the last 13 years. One of them was increasing number of foreign tourists. I saw many visitors waiting a  tour boat.

 

We can expect good views of Mt. Fuji from Hakone.

I was not fortunate enough to see a clear view of the mountain. There were some clouds covering the mountain. (see the 4th photo)

I, however, saw a good vies of Mt. Fuji from Sako River district, about 20km east from Hakone, on my way back from Hakone to Tokyo.

 

 

Special horse event @Equestrian Park: Dec. 21, 2024

 

In the eventing (horse trials) competition of equestrian sports in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Japanese team acquired a bronze medal. It was the first Olympic medal for the country in the equestrian sports in 92 years.

The team was called “shoro Japan” or Japanese team with elder members. The team became popular in the country after the Olympic Games, partially helped by the friendliness of the nickname.

 

There was a special event with the team members held in the Equestrian Park in Tokyo. The weather was good and the autumn color was beautiful today.

They played model performances in the three events -- dressage, cross-country and jumping.

 

Hundreds of audiences welcomed four members of the team.

 

Mr. Kazuma Tomoto performed dressage. It was so elegant. (See also the 2nd photo)

 

Mr. Yoshiaki Oiwa performed jumping. He rode the horse for the first time today, but he easily crossed the bars. (See also the 3rd photo)

 

Mr. Ryuzo Kitajima and Mr. Toshiyuki Tanaka played cross-country riding. They ran fast, jumped over various objects including a automobile, and jumped into the water. (See also the top photo)

I enjoyed the event very much.

 

 

Autumn Color: Nov. 17, 2024

 

It is reported that autumn is getting shorter year by year affected by the global warming in Japan.

People in Tokyo felt the start of autumn in September decades ago. Now, many people feel it starts in October. The season of autumn color is also getting later.

The autumn color started part by part in Tokyo in these days.

I visited Gotokuji Temple in Setagaya City, western Tokyo. Parts of maple trees were red while others were green.

The temple was crowded with foreign tourists (as usual).

 

The gingko trees began to change to yellow in Hanegi Park in Segtagaya.

 The leaves of tulip trees were also turning to yellow in a walking path in the area.

 

 

Kagura @ Kenchoji Temple in Kamakura City: Oct 26-27, 2024

 

I visit Kamakura City to see Kagura, Japan’s traditional ritual dance performance, around this time every year. I made a visit on 26 and 27 this year.

The performance is played by Kagura teams is Iwate prefecture. The area was severely hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Traditional arts played important roles after the quake in uniting the local communities. The Kagura performance started in Kamakura as a part of support activities for Iwate.

 

The event is held in Kenchoji-Temple, one of most prestigious Zen-school temple in Kamakura, every year.

The performance in 2024 was played by Koshio Kagura in Hanamaki City. 

The temporal stage was set in a large temple building. About 200 audience gathered.

 

Five to seven dances were performed on Oct 26 and 27 respectively. (Seealso the top and 2nd photo)

 

A sword dance was performed outside the building. (See also the 3rd photo)

 

Koshio Kagura is unique as its team has many female members. Many Kagura teams in Japan have only male members.

 

Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, which locates in the Sea-of-Japan coast in central Japan, was seriously damaged by a quake in January this year. Some NGOs engaged in supporting activities in the area collected dishes, bowls, chopsticks and dining trays lacquered with Japan, brought them to Kamakura and sold them in Kenchoji-temple. 

The revenue will be used for the reconstruction of Noto area.

Many guests including foreign people stopped their feet and bought the products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

General election in Japan: Oct 21-27, 2024

 

Japan had a snap general election on October 27, 2024.

The election was held as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolved the lower house on Oct. 9. Ishiba became Japan’s PM on Oct. 1^st.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been involved in a scandal (not a few members of the party had collected money without reporting the revenue to the tax office. The actions were seen as tac evasion).

The election campaign officially started on Oct. 15. Candidates made speeches in many places.

Posters of the candidates were put on the boards. The left photo was taken in Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The 2nd photo was taken in a walking path in Setagaya City, Tokyo.

Former environment minister Shinichiro Koizumi is a popular politician. As LDP’s campaign chief, he visited the electoral districts of many candidates and made speeches. He was in Takadanobaba in Shinjuku City on Oct. 21. (See the top photo)

The left photo was taken in front of Kyodo Station in Setagaya City. Only a few people listened the candidate's speech in this case.

The central and local governments called people to vote. I saw a sign displayed in Fujisawa Station in Kanagawa Prefecture.

The ruling parties (LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito) made a big defeat in the election. It is not sure whether the LDP will keep the power or the opposition parties will take over the power.

 

 

 

 

Yumura Hot Spring in Kofu: Sept 16, 29024

I visited Yumura Hot Spring (Onsen) during my travel in Yamanashi Prefecture.

Yumura Onsen is not far from central Kofu (about 3km). It has a history of more than 1000 years. It is especially famous as Takeda Shingen's secret hot spring. Takeda Shingen lives in the 15^th century.

In was loved and used by many famous novelists, such as Dazai Osamu and Ibuse Masuji, in the early Showa era.

There are about ten hotels in the area.

Some hotels as well as restaurants and other related facilities in the area now old. Now, redevelopment works are on the way in some places.

There are some hospitals and nursing care facilities in the area. Such facilities and hotels stand side by side.

One of the most prestigious hotels in the area is Tokiwa Hotel. It has a beautiful garden.

Many historically important matches of Shogi (Japanese chess) and Igo games have been held in the hotel.

There are photos and autographs of famous Shogi and Igo Players displayed in the hotel.