This was taken at Zeni-Arai Benten, about 20-30 minutes’ walk from our house in Kamakura. It’s the shrine where you can wash money and Benten, whose theology is ferociously complex (just see her Wikipedia page), blesses you with your money being increased once you’ve washed it (it worked really well for a friend of mine when I did it for him by proxy – he cashed in his Microsoft share options and became a very rich man indeed).

Straight out of the camera, by the way. Nothing added, nothing taken away.

nannohana – brightens the February fields, and the dinner table. Often boiled or even fried, and eaten as a vegetable.

ume is usually translated as “plum”, but apparently these trees (梅) are closer to apricots than plums, if you want to be pedantic about it. They’re the first splash of color after New Year, and they make you feel that spring is in the air. The skies are blue, the air is dry, and the smell of these things is heavenly. Then it starts to snow… and you know winter is still with us. But ume remain as a symbol of the time of year, and in many ways are preferable to the rather more vulgar cherry blossoms. Apparently at one time hanami (flower viewing) referred to ume, and not cherry.

This is, of course, two photos (of different ume trees) with some elementary Photoshopping. The sky is untouched, though – it really was that color that day.

fuyu (冬) – winter – not much more to add to this…

This was taken close to our house. I desaturated the background to increase the 3D effect of the statue popping out of the picture.

Round this way (Kamakura), people surf all year round–it’s the Pacific, and there’s a (reportedly) warm current that keeps things tolerable. Over on the other side of Japan, there are snowdrifts meters deep, but here, people are splashing around, even in mid-December (this was taken just before Christmas 2009). Never mind the fact that the waves don’t exist, and that surfing is really only possible for about 5 meters before you hit the shore.

Taken with my 300mm (600mm equivalent lens) at about 550mm equivalent. No image stabilization, 1/320 @ f5.6.

This particular young lady was in Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura this morning (New Year’s Day, 2010) helping with blessing worshippers coming to get good fortune for the coming year. Her job seemed to be to shake some bells at them and then bow. I took some photos of her doing this, but then I moved behind the shrine and noticed the low sun (9:30 am or so) coming through from behind. I’ve cropped the picture a little, and I’ve lightened her face a bit with the dodge & burn tool. I hadn’t noticed her reflection on the shiny floor – that’s a bonus I only discovered when I saw the picture on the computer. Do click on the picture to make it full size – the smaller preview squashes the aspect ratio.

Anyway, a Happy New Year to you all.

Here’s Mount Fuji in winter (a week ago) taken from the hill about 10 minutes’ walk from our house (Kamakura). Of course, this was taken with a telephoto lens, but it still looked remarkably close when we turned round and saw this massive dormant volcano looming over us. The cranes in the mid-distance are constructing a massive apartment complex between Ōfuna and Fujiwara, beside the railway line.

And a Happy Christmas to all our readers!

taiyaki is a sort of sweet bean paste (anko)encased in a batterlike mixture in the shape of a tai (bream) and done on a griddle. Usually eaten hot. A sort of stuffed waffle is probably the best description of these things (I quite like them, myself).

This feller here was in Hiratsuka – he’s stuffed cloth, about 70cm long, and dressed for the festive season. Taken with a phone camera (iPhone) as I didn’t have my camera with me, but he was too good to miss.