KyushuCalanthe
Just call me Tom
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
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A couple weekends ago the temples and shrines of Fukuoka were lit up in a celebration of this city's rich spiritual past. I say past
because nowadays while folks look to these structures as a vital part of their traditional culture, few have much faith in the spiritual
practices they observe. Many of the temples featured in this celebration were built during the Mongolian Invasion hundreds of years ago as
a means of protecting Japan - huge sums of money were spent creating many of these structures for the sole purpose of praying
away Mongol invasion. It must have worked since two separate invasions failed to gain any significant ground in Japan.
In the last attempt a typhoon blew the would be invaders off course, thus creating the famous "kami-kaze" myth - the sacred winds
protecting Japan.
Anyway, here are the pics. All were done hand-held due to dense crowds making tripod use impossible. That means I shot at ISO 1600 and
underexposed most shots so I could get a reasonalbly good image. Light levels were then corrected in editing. I was surprised so many shots
were relatively decent.
Enkakuji - Here I managed to catch a small "bell tower" with the moon!
Touchouji - The main hall at Tochou Temple gives the impression of a huge Greek temple with all those LCDs on it.
Touchouji - The big pagoda at the same temple is even more intense!
Touchouji - Another "bell tower".
Garden lights - this little courtyard garden was pretty cool.
Kushido Shrine - This shrine is locally famous since it is the beginning point of the main summer festival in
Fukuoka - Yamakasa. To see a bit of the festival you can watch my Japanese monsoon video (the festival is at the
end). This lovely row of lanterns grace the backside of the temple grounds.
Kushido Shrine - Within the main hall of Kushido Shrine is this huge mask of a mountain god known as
tengu in Japan. This area is only opened once a year for visitors, otherwise is off limits.
Touchouji - Back at Toucho Temple we stood in line for almost an hour to see the famous giant Buddha statue
(called daibutsu in Japanese). It is made entirely of hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) and sits
(not stands!) 10.8 meters tall (that's 35 feet!) and weights 30 tons - like me, he needs a diet.
because nowadays while folks look to these structures as a vital part of their traditional culture, few have much faith in the spiritual
practices they observe. Many of the temples featured in this celebration were built during the Mongolian Invasion hundreds of years ago as
a means of protecting Japan - huge sums of money were spent creating many of these structures for the sole purpose of praying
away Mongol invasion. It must have worked since two separate invasions failed to gain any significant ground in Japan.
In the last attempt a typhoon blew the would be invaders off course, thus creating the famous "kami-kaze" myth - the sacred winds
protecting Japan.
Anyway, here are the pics. All were done hand-held due to dense crowds making tripod use impossible. That means I shot at ISO 1600 and
underexposed most shots so I could get a reasonalbly good image. Light levels were then corrected in editing. I was surprised so many shots
were relatively decent.
Enkakuji - Here I managed to catch a small "bell tower" with the moon!
Touchouji - The main hall at Tochou Temple gives the impression of a huge Greek temple with all those LCDs on it.
Touchouji - The big pagoda at the same temple is even more intense!
Touchouji - Another "bell tower".
Garden lights - this little courtyard garden was pretty cool.
Kushido Shrine - This shrine is locally famous since it is the beginning point of the main summer festival in
Fukuoka - Yamakasa. To see a bit of the festival you can watch my Japanese monsoon video (the festival is at the
end). This lovely row of lanterns grace the backside of the temple grounds.
Kushido Shrine - Within the main hall of Kushido Shrine is this huge mask of a mountain god known as
tengu in Japan. This area is only opened once a year for visitors, otherwise is off limits.
Touchouji - Back at Toucho Temple we stood in line for almost an hour to see the famous giant Buddha statue
(called daibutsu in Japanese). It is made entirely of hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) and sits
(not stands!) 10.8 meters tall (that's 35 feet!) and weights 30 tons - like me, he needs a diet.
