秩父神社の「鬼やらい」
毎年2月3日に行われている秩父神社の「節分追儺（ついな）祭」のことです。
鬼がいっぱい登場し、年男・年女による「鬼やらい」や「豆撒き」が行われます。
年男・年女が「鬼は外～」といいながら豆をまくと、鬼は退散。

This Kasaboko (flower parasol) used in 300 years old Japanese festival in Chichibu which actually looks stunning. This chichibu night festival is also known as 'chichibu yomatsuri'. I was really very excited to see it.

I didn't have enough space to write it the other day, but after visiting Fukuda Inari Shrine the other day in Nishi-Omiya, Saitama we stopped by a café called Mango Tree Cafe, a small Thai restaurant on the way back to the station.

We'd already eaten, so we just wanted to sit down and relax from all the walking and to catch a break from the cold. We ordered some frozen drinks and a mango ice cream which all tasted quite good. I think the ice cream was the best but I didn't get a picture of it.

I ordered the watermelon frozen juice and it was pretty nice, but they had something called "manaonade" (アンチャンマナオネード) which I guess means "blue tea" or "butterfly pea flower tea-ade" (lol).
It's a type of herbal tea I guess but it seemed interesting. I was considering getting it, but I'd never heard of it before so decided to stay on the safe side and just get the watermelon.

I'll probably try it next time as I know this place is a chain restaurant with other locations in Tokyo. Plus I never really eat Thai food, so it'd be something nice to try for a change

Wanted to do Hatsumode this year but didn't want to go anywhere crowded, so I decided to go out to Saitama and find a small shrine to visit. Ended up at this tiny shrine in Nishi-Omiya called Fukuda Inari Shrine (福田稲荷神社). It was super small and not a single person was there so it was like we had the whole place to ourselves.

There was no real path leading up to the shrine so we had to walk through a plot of land that wasn't being used but it ended up being a really cool place.
The approach to the shrine was really mysterious and once you get past the second torii gate you can see a bamboo forest surrounding the whole area. It was really neat as I couldn't see any bamboo from the outside and didn't really know what to expect when I visited.

The shrine itself looks almost deserted but somehow still well maintained.
I wanted to go inside to look at the pictures better but obviously I can't so I just admired them from afar.
The temizuya/chozuya (or at least I think it was that, maybe this would be considered a chozubachi?) didn't have a ladle to wash your hands but maybe it has to do with corona.

Anyways, it was a really nice little shrine and is a great place if you're looking for a mini adventure outside of Tokyo.
Or if you want to do Hatsumode and avoid the crowds completely lol.
Also, happy new year!

埼玉県川越の風景です。
ここの街並みは好きでよくいきます。
最近は観光客も増えて混んでる時が多いですがとてもすきな街です。

トーベ・ヤンソンあけぼの子どもの森公園という公園です。駐車場も無料公園も無料です。1年に一度ライトアップいたします。
今はしてませんが普通に昼間もムーミンの公園でインスタ映えいたします。

初霜が降りた氷点下の朝

自宅付近からの撮影。
葉が落ちた木々の間から見えるお月様がとても幻想的な夜でした。

岩槻城跡公園
雨上がりのリフレクション。
水面に写り込んだ景色が、まるで絵画のような世界を作り出していました。

I found a Saitama fair in Ueno station and they were selling my favorite sweets 十万石まんじゅう!! I highly recommend this to anyone going to Saitama ?

こんにちは

暴れススキ?と申します

秋の植物やってます

ぜひご覧になってって下さい

I'm pretty sure this is the last photo that I have of my trip to Kumagaya. Was a really awesome time and I'd love to revisit sometime in the future. You can really feel the summer atmosphere with the koinobori and the clear skies as well. I wanted to walk along the canal and see how long it is and see if I could find any cool cafes, restaurants, or other shops to check out, but I was unfortunately short on time so I didn't get the chance. It'll have to wait for a return trip.

Kumagaya was an interesting town though, so I'm sure I'll be able to find at least a few hidden gems to explore along the canals. I want to explore the rest of the city more too. It had some nice places to eat but I want to see more of the local culture, etc. next time I'm there.

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.

I found a few more photos of my trip to Kumagaya. Being as it's the "Rugby Town" of Japan, it's only natural that it has a big statue of a rugby ball! It's kind of a cute statue and it reminds me of something from a movie, although I'm not sure which movie it is I'm thinking of. Apparently there's supposed to be a few of these statues found around other parts of Kumagaya, but I don't remember if I saw them or not. Obviously I saw some of the other statues, like the one over the canal, etc., but I don't remember seeing more than one of this statue. Perhaps at one of the other exits of Kumagaya Station. Also, the statue is apparently called "Rugby Boy" ("ラグビー少年" in Japanese), for anyone curious!

Went canoeing in Hagure, Saitama and I managed to turn red thanks to a nice sunburn. Was super tired the next day after a ton of canoeing but still managed to get a good amount of sightseeing done in Gyoda. Visited Oshi Castle (忍城) and the nearby museum, bought some tabi shoes from a shop that’s been in business for more than 100 years (創作足袋千代の松), stopped by a couple of shrines and enjoyed some of Japan’s scenic beauty. Had a total blast, and one of the locals even gave us some incense as a gift for visiting Gyoda!

大好きなドラマ陸王が撮影された行田に行ってきました！足袋屋さんで勝ち虫柄を発見！とにかく興奮しっぱなしでした?

主人お手製のパンです▹▸
パン職人ですので
家で天然酵母を使って
こねてました???

ただウチのは
立派なオーブンでは
無いので
なかなか苦戦していました(笑)

ほんのり甘くて
美味しかったです( •̀ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧

食欲の秋をテーマで
自宅で主人と二人で
ホールケーキを
頂きました(*'*'*)ŧ‹”ŧ‹”

I am ready for the weekend lol. Not sure why, but I am just super tired this week. I wasn't able to workout during my lunch break today, so I'm going to have to do it tomorrow. Just needed to get a little rest in. I think it's probably due to the rain and it being darker outside lately. Was looking at some old photos and I found one of a manhole cover in Kumagaya that I never posted. Japan has so many cool designs on manholes, that there's actually quite a few people who go out of there way to take photos of them when they visit Japan. It's one of those unique things that you don't find in other countries and it's really neat. I like this one because it represents what Kumagaya is - a rugby town. I'd like to go back and visit again as it seemed like a really nice place. I don't know if I'd be able to play rugby at this point, but I'd definitely like to watch a game if I get the chance.

近所の公園で撮った一枚です。
上を向いた向日葵にミツバチが止まるのを待ち構えて撮りました。
※縦構図なのでタップしてみてください！

夏のはじまり。
.
.
.
あとがき。
日本の夏。友達、あるいは大切な人と楽しむはずの夏。いつかまたこんな素敵な「夏」がくることを祈ってます。

日本の夏といえば風鈴は欠かせない！
ということで、埼玉県川越市にある川越氷川神社に行ってきました。夏の日差しと風鈴を入れて「日本の夏」を表現してみました。

青々とした木々に囲まれる神社の中の静かな休憩所でした。なにか不思議な雰囲気を感じ思わずシャッターを切りました。

近所の公園で撮った一枚です。
もくもくとした大きな雲、前ボケの向日葵と夏を詰め込みました。

母がまだ元気だった頃、妹家族と3家族で乗った長瀞ライン下り。
コロナ過で母の精神が乱れ、1年ほど外出ができていないので、コロナが終わり、母が元気になったら次は紅葉の長瀞を訪れたい。

秩父ミューズパーク展望台から見る雲海☁️
太陽が昇り、たった数分だけ見れるこの景色☺️この時間の光のさし方が大好きなんです✨

今年は美の山公園の紫陽花と雲海の写真が撮りたかったのですが、あいにくコロナ感染予防のため駐車場が閉鎖されてるようで残念です。

Wow what a cool sight! I've been out to Nagatoro and Chichibu and went on a riverboat ride and I think I remember the guy pushing the boat saying something about there being icicles there during the winter. I'd love to go back and see it sometime as this looks really amazing. Also we wanted to try the kayaking in Nagatoro as well since the water was too low when we went and the boat we rode on couldn't go as far downriver. I guess they have some skiing there as well, I'm not sure if it's connected to the ropeway at all, but that's another cool thing to do in the area. The mountain is really beautiful and I think there's probably a good amount of cherry blossoms if you go in the spring. I'd like to explore Chichibu more though as I hear there's a pilgrimage there where you can see temples and shrines and stuff.

冬の埼玉県秩父市
三峰口の近くにある「三十槌の氷柱」

初めて見た氷柱は資料や映像とは違う
何処となく幻想的な印象を与えてくれた。
寒さを感じるのは当たり前だったけど、何処か暖かさを感じた。

小江戸川越散策
和ろうそくHAZE
ろうそくの灯火に癒される
贈るのはモノではなく
灯す時間
想い出に買った和ろうそく
季節限定の和ろうそく「又明日」

アフターコロナにまた訪れたい小江戸川越
和ろうそくHAZE

「また明日」
「さようなら」ではなく再会を願い交わす言葉「また明日」。
全人類同士で交わす時 真の平和が来たる時。

“See you tomorrow”
Not to mean “good-bye” but a word that looks forward to a “reunion.”
When we exchange the words “See you tomorrow” between all mankind,
this is when true peace comes.

小江戸川越お散歩
縁結びの神様 あい鯛おみくじのある
川越氷川神社へ
アフターコロナの夏にお参りに行きたい
風鈴の季節
釣り灯籠の美しい神社
絵馬のトンネル
パワースポットの大きな御神木
癒しの世界