YOKOHAMA PICTURE SHOW
RICE FIELD IN JAPAN 1962
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Winter Morning
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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
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
photographed by Kurtz Law on 25 Jun 10, 8.44AM PDT.
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
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...
Lanterns, Osaka
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 ESSAY ON THE O'FURO, the traditional Japanese bath by Robert L. Huffstutter
Originally uploaded by roberthuffstutter
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
yanaka
Uploaded by mrcraige on 15 Jun 09, 3.59AM PDT.
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
japanese_girlfriend_tiny
WIEN COFFEE SHOP, YOKOHAMA 1962 & 1963
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
Originally uploaded by roberthuffstutter
Evening Clouds Over Sankeien Garden Pond
Copyright © Daniel Ruyle
Sankeien Garden in Yokohama
Uploaded by aeschylus18917 on 13 Aug
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
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
YOKOHAMA'S CHINATOWN & PEANUT CLUB 1960S: a watercolor by R.L. Huffstutter
Originally uploaded by roberthuffstutter
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
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.