Managed to stop by Ueno Zoo the other day for a little bit and while I didn't get to see much of the animals because we were short on time, we did get to see a few of the attractions around the park. The first one is "Sala Thai" a gift from the Thai Government to mark the 120th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Japan, as written on the plaque. The second one is the five-story pagoda of the former Kanei-ji Temple. The pagoda was built in 1631 and rebuilt in 1639. Besides that are just some photos of the scenery around the park, and you can see some of the autumn colors on the trees and even in Shinobazu Pond. We also managed to get some tasty lunch. This looks like steak but it was actually like a pork-steak cutlet type of thing. It tasted great though. Hopefully I'll have some more time to actually see the animals next time I go lol It's was registered as an Important Cultural Property in 1911.

"Kita-ku, Osaka" A natural Japan landscape with changing seasons.

"Winter View Osaka City Kita-ku" A natural Japan scene with the changing seasons.

This empty road of Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama Prefecture is so empty that it seems to be sucked in. Why ? do I feel strange? People walking slowly, jogging, walking There were many things, but everyone seemed ? to be comfortable It's a sacred path, isn't it??

The last of the photos that I took at Asukayama Park. The first one was a nice statue of Shibusawa Eiichi and the second and third were taken at a shrine inside the park. I had to do a little bit of research to learn more about the shrine, but I was already quite sure it was an Inari Shrine because of the fox statues, but apparently it's called (I believe) Kabuto Inari Shrine Ruins (兜稲荷社跡), although I could be wrong about the reading for the first kanji. I liked that the shrine had a really small wooden shrine of what I believe was what the original shrine actually looked like, and the stone lanterns were aesthetically pleasing as well. I foolishly forgot to take a picture of the torii gate unfortunately... The last two photos are the statue of Shibusawa Eichi (which took us forever to find lol) and the plaque below it. I can only make out a few characters that are written on the plaque but there's another plaque on the back of the pedestal (which I forgot to take a picture of), so if you're visiting the park be sure to look at that if you're struggling to read it as well lol.

Some more photos from Asukayama Park! The first monument is a bit difficult for me to read so I had to do a bit of research, but it seems to be a commemorative monument signifying the planting of various trees throughout the park to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, and as such, was constructed in 1968, so it's about 50 years old, probably one of the newer monuments of its kind within the park. When I was walking back around the area I saw the dance stage from a different angle and managed to take a photo of the participants through a nice gap in the trees. There were a lot more participants this time so I stopped and watched it for a little while again. At the other end of the park I found this statue of a woman which is actually a statue of the "Goddess of peace" and it was erected in 1974 to wish for world peace and happiness. Even cooler, it was erected by the famous sculptor Seibo Kitamura who erected the "Peace Statue" at Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki. Really cool to see his works all the way in Tokyo as well!

Some more photos I took at Asukayama Park the other day. I really liked this statue of Avalokitesvara, as I felt like it was really well crafted. I included the description to this monument as it's hard to read what is carved onto the stone and it's written in older Japanese too so my friends couldn't even read it lol. I think it has something to do with a poem about cherry blossoms although I could be wrong about that. It's pretty cool seeing the older Japanese from hundreds of years ago though. Even if I can't read it it's interesting to see how the Japanese language itself has evolved throughout the years. I'll be posting more photos of this place tomorrow as well!

Went to Asukayama Park near Oji Station yesterday. I've passed by the area many times and seen the gondola leading to the top but never knew what was up there until now. It's a really big park dedicated to Shibusawa Eiichi, known as the father of capitalism in Japan. The park has a bunch of monuments and cultural properties to check out so I managed to take a lot of photos and I'll be uploading them over the next few days. I chose a good day to go it seems too, as there was an event going on. It involved some traditional dances (I think from the Oji area), and it involved some sort of sash that kind of reminded me of a kimono obi, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. They had a taiko drum as well but it seems I didn't make it in time to watch them playing, I only heard it in the distance when I was walking to the park. I thought it was really cool seeing all the different monuments though. Many of them were several hundred years old and the Japanese on them was also and older form, so it was hard for me to read a lot of them lol. It was a really enjoyable experience though, so I'll upload some more photos tomorrow!

"Kita-ku, Osaka" A natural scene of Japan where summer is over and cicadas die and the seasons change.

The clear autumn sky seen from the castle tower of Odawara Castle. The flow of clouds like a phoenix flying in the sky is very beautiful.

Another photo from Kumagaya. This is a big map outside of Kumagaya Station's North Exit, depicting, from what I understand, Kumagaya and the surrounding area in 1936. It's a bit difficult to see, but if you zoom in you can see Kumagaya on the left side with Tokyo in the upper left behind it, and to the right of Kumagaya you can see Kami-Kumagaya, from there, if you look to the bottom-right you'll see Kumagaya City Hall and furthest to the right is Ishiwara. Underneath Ishiwara you can also see several schools (elementary, middle, high school) and a hospital. It's quite difficult to see in this photo, but the mountain at the far back right is Mt. Asama, and you can see Nagatoro as well. On top of that, there's the Arakawa River running through the background of the entire map and a bridge connecting to Onuma Park as well. There's tons of stuff to see in just this one map, I love looking at old maps and historic things like this. I could stare at it for hours and still find new and interesting things.

Togetsukyo Bridge

Satoyama and thatched roof

At the Katsuragi One Word Lord Shrine.

Cosmos and temple towers

Some photos I took during my visit to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. I really enjoyed seeing the recreations of the Edo cityscape and seeing what the city would have looked like back in the day. I like that you can also get a feel for what life was like at that time and you can even see people doing various jobs or holding tools related to them. I enjoyed seeing the boats as well, as it showed how shipping would been carried out at the time, and you also get to see the architecture of the ships, which was really awesome in my honest opinion. I also tried getting a decent photo of Tokugawa Ieyasu but I was really short on time when visiting as the museum was about to close, so I definitely need to go back there again. I wanted to see some of the other exhibits as well, stuff like the Great Kanto Earthquake exhibits, etc. so I have an excuse to visit again lol.

Autumn leaves of the temple and illumination of the tower

Light up the autumn leaves of the temple

Yamaguchi Kintai Bridge Bridge reflected behind autumn leaves Seen during the autumn leaves and cherry blossom season

Kyoto Yanagitani Kannon Gradation of autumn leaves

Kyoto Kinkakuji Temple Carpet of autumn leaves Even if the beautiful autumn leaves fall, Beautifully scattered The autumn foliage season is not over even if it falls

Autumn of Japan Old-fashioned garden Kokoen In Hyogo Prefecture

View from the former gondola platform in Shiga Kogen Hasuike, Nagano Prefecture Locations for the Winter Olympics A very nostalgic tokoro

Saga Karatsu Castle Rising from behind Karatsu Castle every year "Nishakudama" Many people take pictures with this composition every year. This year, I was able to deliver a composition that I rarely can take. It is a fireworks festival held every September. Magic Hour Sky and Karatsu Castle and Fireworks It's a firework that can only be taken this summer.

Saga Imari Bay Rarely seen in Kyushu "Sanshakudama" Loud noise 600-650m Fireworks fill your field of vision

I went to Nachi in Wakayama! The stairs were ? very beautiful. It was ? foggy and a little cold.

The "Fukagawa Festival" is a summer tradition in downtown Tokyo (Edo) as a water festival.

Kyoto Gion Festival held again this year Pedestrian paradise with corona measures, Although the procession has been canceled Kyoto's Traditional Summer Events If you observe the Gion Festival Each hoko town gathered to hold the event.

This is Dazaifu Tenmangu. I was fascinated by the contrast between vermilion and green. You can almost hear the cicadas.

Scenery of old railway tracks and bamboo forest In Tottori