There are so many temples in Kyoto, but this Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple has something different because of its stone carving collection in their garden. Usually, stone statues of rakan, which means disciple of Buddha, are made by professional craftsmen; however, most of the one thousand stone sculptures there were carved by amateurs. That is the reason why there are so...
Ivory was widely used to make carvings because of its hardness and whiteness. Now, the ivory trade is limited all over the world in consideration of animal preservation and protection. However, until two decades ago, there were so many ivory markets everywhere. In particular, old China had produced enormous ivory carvings and Japan imported...
The most famous Japanese folk tale is Taketori-monogatari known as “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter”. The story about Princess Kaguya, who was born from a bamboo stalk, takes place somewhere in ancient Kyoto once upon a time. A bamboo craftsman, who lived in Kyoto, built a private palace, which was made from bamboo. He was Mr. Kiyosuke Nagano and...
Momotaro is one of the most famous Japanese folk tales. All Japanese know the story of a very tiny boy, who was born from a peach, and who beat the evil demons and took the treasures back. In this story, he got three servants to fight the demons: a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant. Of course, they were very active during the combat against the demons...
Monkeys are basically tropical animals, but the Nihon-zaru is an exception. It lives as far as Aomori Prefecture. However, there are a few monkeys in Hokkaido that like to enjoy the benefits of the hot spring in Yunokawa, Hakodate. We can see the Nihon-zarus enjoying the onsen in the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden. I went there in January...
There is a Kannon statue of one-hundred-meter height on the north side of Awaji Island, Hyogo. This tall statue of the Goddess of Mercy was founded by Mr. Toyokichi Toyouchi, a real estate tycoon in Osaka. It was built in 1977 and was closed in 2006 because of the owner’s death. I visited there in the winter of 2003 so I could enter the inside of the statue...
A mongoose hunts a snake! It is very famous but few people have seen a real fight between them. I also have never seen it and really wanted to enjoy it. Because I had heard that there were many attractions for fighting shows in Okinawa, I searched them on the web when I visited Naha City in the winter of 2010. Unfortunately, fighting shows were all prohibited on...
This is my other travel story from the winter of 2007. There was a private zoo in Akiruno, Tokyo. Its name was Mutsugoro’s Animal Kingdom. The founder of this kingdom, Mr. Masanori Hata, whose pen name is Mutsugoro which means “mudskipper,” is a famous zoologist, essayist and TV personality. The zoo was moved to...
This information center exists near Shinagawa JR Station. I visited there in the winter of 2012 because I didn’t know what meat processing was at all. When we enjoy meat dishes, we want to know what kind of meat we have and how to cook them, but we never want to think about how the meat is processed from domestic animals. This museum shows us the real process...
Do you like bees? I think most people doesn’t like them because they are dangerous insects. However, there is a person who really loves bees in Tohmi City, Nagano. His name is Mr. Kuniyoshi Shiozawa, and he is the founder of this marvelous beehive art museum. I visited it in the winter of 2002 after the Shinshu Golden Castle that I...