Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/07/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]As today was Marine Day in Japan, we took a stroll around Aoshima, a local island. 'Ao' means 'blue' or 'green', and 'shima' -sometimes 'jima'- means 'island'. So it is a green island. Surrounding the little dome-shaped island is a geological formation the locals call The Devil's Washboard, named after the long striations the molten basalt formed into as it was cooled by the sea. A walkway connects the island to the shore, and along it are lanterns, and then a large red 'tori' or gate, which in the native Shinto religion marks an entrance to a sacred area. Within Aoshima's sub-tropical forest is a shrine dedicated to local gods, with smaller shrines dedicated to local kami, the animistic spirits of entities such as the sea and individual trees like the banana tree we spotted, but especially venerated in Japan are sprawling, ancient Japanese cedars. Before entering the shrine proper, people rinse their hands with a ladle of purifying water, in this instance poured from a dragon's mouth. Stone shishi, or lion- dogs, protecting symbols in Japanese shintoism and buddhism, and are usually seen at the entrance of temples and shrines. Looking in, the one on the right, a male, has an open mouth ('Ah~') and the one on the left, female, has mouth closed ('Nn' or 'Mm'). This originates from the buddhist meditation word 'Aum', which moves from open to closed, and the people enter the shrine or temple in the middle of the sacred space between 'Ah' and 'Nn' that the protecting lion-dogs pronounce. The photos were taken with an M8 and 35mm 'cron asph. http://www.flickr.com/photos/geordiepete/sets/72157624535330322/show/ Peter Cheyne