HIROSHIGE AND VAN GOGH

HIROSHIGE AND VAN GOGH
Read About Van Gogh's Secret Visit to Japan

WELCOME TO BLOGABOUTJAPAN

WELCOME TO BLOGABOUTJAPAN
IT WAS A SPECIAL TIME IN MY LIFETIME

APT WITH TATAMI MATS, a special time in my lifetime in Japan...

APT WITH TATAMI MATS, a special time in my lifetime in Japan...
Watercolor by R.L.Huffstutter

COMPARISONS IN ART

COMPARISONS IN ART
HIROSHIGE'S WORK ON LEFT, VAN GOGH'S ON RIGHT

YOKOHAMA PICTURE SHOW

YOKOHAMA PICTURE SHOW
Shot with my Petri in Yokohama 1962

RICE FIELD IN JAPAN 1962

RICE FIELD IN JAPAN 1962
I took this with my PETRI in Kanagawa Prefecture

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Winter Morning


Winter Morning
Originally uploaded by uBookworm
This classic photo in uBookworm's photostream has further increased my love and joy for images of a Japan I knew 50 years ago. Thanks to the photographer for this great image that symbolizes a serenity that the world could use in these troubled times.
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Winter Morning
Sanju-sangendo, Kyoto.

Uploaded by uBookworm on 19 Mar 08, 7.06AM PDT.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Hotel New Grand, Yokohama

Hotel New Grand, Yokohama
A display showing some of the old photos, china and typewriter that was previously used in the hotel.

Uploaded by shibuya246 on 21 Jan 10, 12.02AM PDT.
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One of my favorite hotels and one contracted with the U.S. Navy for incoming officers to stay until adequate BOQ or OFFICER HOUSING was arranged. It also served the same purpose for senior enlisted men and their families. As pertaining to women of commissioned officer status and the policy the Navy had with the New Grand, I am not certain. At one time, Japan had a unique policy about unescorted Western females who were seeking single status lodging in Japan.

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHIBUYA246 FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

Saturday, June 26, 2010

enoshima causeway


enoshima causeway
Originally uploaded by Kurtz Law
My gratitude to the photographer, Kurtz Law, for permission to include this photograph in my BlogaboutJapan. Mr. Law has captured a view that I remember quite well. Back in the early 60s, the steps were easy to climb, but it would take much more time now. Mr. Law's photograph captures both the progress of construction, the progress that is inevitable in a nation where progress is essential, but moreover, his photograph retains the view of the causeway, though much wider and more efficient. Thankfully, the beauty of the traditional roofs has remained in reality and remembered quite well. Congratulations to Kurtz Law for photographs that awaken some fond memories of Enoshima nearly 50 years ago.

enoshima causeway

photographed by Kurtz Law on 25 Jun 10, 8.44AM PDT.

緑の侵略者


緑の侵略者
Originally uploaded by comolebi666
緑の侵略者
放っておいたらとんでもないことになるよね。
すんごい生命力。

Uploaded by comolebi666 on 21 Jun 10, 10.18AM PDT.

I cannot read the above, but this is one of the best photos I have seen in over 60 years of photo viewing.

going downstairs enoshima


going downstairs enoshima
Originally uploaded by Kurtz Law

My memories of Enoshima are many and fond. While browsing the Flickr photostream of Kurtz Law, I happened upon this photograph that defines just one of the numerous stairwells or stairs that one climbs to reach the summit of Enoshima Island.

If I have mentioned it once, I must have mentioned the rain of Enoshima a hundred times. "It always rained while I was in Enoshima. It was a light and gentle rain and began around two o'clock in the afternoon.

There was, as always in Japan, umbrellas everywhere the moment the rain began. The umbrellas of Enoshima are among my memories, but that is no surprise, I knew then that if I lived to an elderly age, I would never forget the umbrellas or the rain of Enoshima.

And as gently as the rain began, it stopped after about a half an hour and the sun came shining brilliantly through the passing clouds and once again created a myriad of colorful reflections upon the bay below. Having stopped into a sake shop for the duration of the rain, my sense of the reflections were enhanced by the joyful spirit of the sake.

While there are many small shops that feature miniature Dharmas and the other six symbols that usually comprise the group, I purchased the one that kept the sake spirit fresh and vibrant, thus among my keepsakes are a few of those momentos from Enoshima.

Someday, perhaps, I will return. Having changed my beverage choices a few years ago, I will try some coffee next time. And if I return, I will take an umbrella. My thanks to Mr. Kurtz Law, the photographer who granted permission to include his photographs in my BlogaboutJapan.

Photographs by Kurtz Law on 25 Jun 10, 8.44AM PDT.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

ADD YOUR NAME AS A FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOGABOUTJAPAN...


Add you name to the FOLLOWERS of this blog and help me to get my blog to those who love Japan as I do. To be specific, I want the publicity, the laurels that might come from publishing a blog dedicated to Japan, a Japan of the 60s and a Japan depicted by photos of guest photographers.
The above photo is one of the first snapshots I took with my new Petri in 1961. It is the entrance to the famed Isasakcho (spelled a hundred different ways) shopping street in Yokohama. In 1961 and the early 60s, it was THE place to begin a day in Yokohama.

Lanterns, Osaka


Lanterns, Osaka
Originally uploaded by Fiona Michelet
roberthuffstutter says:
My fascination with Japan began in the late 1940s when I became aware of National Geographic Magazine, War and the mystery of the Orient. My fascination with Japan led to much more than fascination the day I arrived in Japan in August of 1961.

By the time of my departure in December of 1963, I was in love with Japan and it was a love affair and intense romance that would last a lifetime.

My ultimate dream would be a return to Japan, but then, would I really want the memories I cherish to dim upon finding old haunts and places where I stayed, places where there were memories of a youthful romance, razed and removed, like my dreams, and face the reality of fate as it was dealt, or as I helped create fate by failing to return as I had planned?
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Lanterns, Osaka

Uploaded by Fiona Michelet on 3 Jun 10, 6.18AM PDT.

Friday, June 11, 2010

A SHORT ESSAY ESSAY ON THE O'FURO, the traditional Japanese bath by Robert L. Huffstutter

A SHORT ESSAY ON THE O'FURO, THE TRADITIONAL JAPANESE BATH By Robert L. Huffstutter

The most important issue to keep in mind when contemplating the o'furo is that it is not a hot tub to jump into and wash up. No, on the contrary, the sudsing, scrubbing and cleansing takes place prior to the entry into the very warm and sometimes a tad too hot, bath. Many of the baths are ceramic and tiled; the older ones are wooden, aged throughout the years dating back sometimes a century or more.

This is a time for the short bathing-style kimonos or bath jackets, often made with a cheesecloth or linen. One rule of ettiquette was to leave the sake back in one's room, but it's a rule that's flexible.

Many of the smaller hotels in Japan had the traditional ofuro, but it was bery basic and without adequate plumbing to fill and refill water buckets without going into a utility area.

Nevertheless, there was something unique about the bath in that one could truly feel the warmth of an age-old tradition.

If one had a guest, the guest was welcome to bathe as part of the accomdations. If one preferred, the hotel staff would fetch and carry the initial wash water and the subsequent tubs of warm, rinse water.

With or without company, the o'furo was a unique experience for most all who had never experience the fascination of the Orient. For this youth, it was especially memorable, having been accustomed to
showers.

A SHORT ESSAY ESSAY ON THE O'FURO, the traditional Japanese bath by Robert L. Huffstutter
www.flickr.com/photos/huffstutterrobertl/tags/workinprogress

Uploaded by roberthuffstutter on 18 Oct 09, 11.31PM PDT.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

gorgeous hotel


gorgeous hotel
Originally uploaded by mrcraige
A REMINDER OF THE 60S ECONOMY CLASS HOTELS IN YOKOHAMA AND TOKYO..........
gorgeous hotel
yanaka

Uploaded by mrcraige on 15 Jun 09, 3.59AM PDT.

The spell is broke and the moment’s gone

The spell is broke and the moment’s gone
Sumida-ku

Uploaded by mrcraige on 15 May 10, 8.37AM PDT.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

FOND MEMORIES OF A SPECIAL FRIENDSHIP


Sometimes, special friendships are not meant to last; the memories remain as young as springtime when a friendship ends in youth, not by choice, but by circumstance.

japanese_girlfriend_tiny


japanese_girlfriend_tiny
Originally uploaded by ferofax
FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, THIS IS AN INVITATION FOR A JAPANESE GIRLFRIEND, but visit FEROFAX photostream to get the details. Great graphics.

WIEN COFFEE SHOP, YOKOHAMA 1962 & 1963

A POEM ABOUT A YOUNG LADY WHOM I MET WHILE IN JAPAN. WE SHARED MANY GREAT TIMES. WE FREQUENTLY MET AT THIS COFFEE SHOP ON SATURDAY MORNINGS...
If i think long enough
my mind will take me
back to youthful
hope and promises
broken by me.

Regrets,
i have a few but
Fate has a way
of having
its way
no matter the beauty of sakura
or the time shared with
springtime love. Does time make the pain
less intense?
No, it only makes it more
severe when the blossoms
are so intense, so real...

WIEN COFFEE SHOP, YOKOHAMA 1962 & 1963

YOKOHAMA'S CHINATOWN & PEANUT CLUB 1960S: a watercolor by R.L. Huffstutter

YOKOHAMA'S CHINATOWN & PEANUT CLUB 1960S: a watercolor by R.L. Huffstutter

Evening Clouds Over Sankeien Garden Pond

Evening Clouds Over Sankeien Garden Pond
Copyright © Daniel Ruyle
Sankeien Garden in Yokohama

Uploaded by aeschylus18917 on 13 Aug

Sankeien Garden, Yokohama

Sankeien Garden, Yokohama
Image of tokyoviews.com

Uploaded by Tokyo Views on 1 Jun 10, 3.22AM PDT.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Hikawa Maru, Yokohama


Hikawa Maru, Yokohama
Originally uploaded by Tokyo Views
Hikawa Maru, Yokohama
Image of tokyoviews.com

Uploaded by Tokyo Views on 5 Jun 10, 4.07AM PDT.
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...it was a time for romance and we walked hand in hand like the two lovers we were and saw the sights of Yokohama, but that was long, long ago. A beautiful reminder of a beautiful time spent in Yokohama...

Friday, June 4, 2010

YOKOHAMA'S CHINATOWN & PEANUT CLUB 1960S: a watercolor by R.L. Huffstutter

This area was like a magnet and attracted youthful Japanese and young servicemen. It was the happening place with the Peanuts Club open 24 hours featuring a variety of live bands on an elevator that moved up and down four floors of spirited, smiling customers.

I remember hearing a Japanese band singing Country and Western for the first time. Their outfits looked like they were from the Grand Ol' Opry with sparkling sequins and saddle-stiching. They did an excellent job, but it was the rock and roll that really got the place moving.

Young Japanese students in their mid to late teens frequented this club as did servicemen in their late teens. Oftentimes, dependents of the servicemen stationed in Japan would wander off base housing to get into the scene. It was a most eclectic group of young people rocking around the clock and sipping coffee, wine Kirin, Asahi and Coca Cola mixed with Suntory's version of Crown Royal.

Yokohama - Japan


Yokohama - Japan
Originally uploaded by Satoshi-O
Yokohama - Japan
神奈川県横浜市神奈川区

Uploaded by Satoshi-O on 20 Apr 10, 8.06AM PDT.
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I CAN NEVER TAKE THE TRAIN FROM TOTSUKA TO HAKONE AGAIN....Robert L. Huffstutter

There are rails in my own lifetime, too many really.
There have been times when I never took that return trip and now, now I wish I had. But that train is long gone,
and the station is probably gone too.

Too much time has lapsed for me to ever return.
I take comfort in the fact that sometimes great romances are only meant to last a short time and then end, leaving our memories forever young.

When I reflect, I see only the beauty in the face
I saw when our romance ended,
young as it was when we met.

It will be a romance that will never grow old.