Category Archives: Photos

【News】 Winter beauty of Japan: Mt. Fuji and corn cobs (Jan. 10, 2016)

  Kotaro Yamada In winter, many tourists come to Oshio Village in Yamanashi Prefecture to see this charming sight – bright orange corn cobs hung out to dry outdoor with Mt. Fuji in the background. As a matter of fact, it’s already one of the winter attractions in Japan that can be experienced only in this season. The wooden rack for drying corn cobs belongs to a 73-year-old villager, Ken Amano. Every year in winter for about 20 years, he sets up the rack and hangs out approximately 700 corn cobs of “koshu” corn (a crop indigenous to Yamanashi Prefecture) to dry in the air. Until about 1950, koshu corn … Continue reading

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【Feature】Winter beauty of harmonic life of man and nature in Japan (Jan. 1, 2016)

  The landscape of Japanese farm villages changes dramatically from season to season. Winter in Japan is generally very cold, but even the cold weather brings with it some amazing sceneries. Please enjoy some of them that are brought to us by the harmonious life of men and nature in Japan. – Snow-covered quiet satoyama  – Kazuhiro Eguchi (in Nanto-shi, Toyama Prefecture) Ainokura is a remote village in the Gokayama region, Nanto, Toyama Prefecture. In winter when heavy snow covers its traditional thatched- and steep-roofed gassho-zukuri houses, the village turns monochrome as if it’s a Chinese ink-wash painting. There are two gassho-zukuri villages in Gokayama: Ainokura and Suganuma. In 1995, … Continue reading

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【News】 Colorful banner parade to signal arrival of winter (Dec. 13, 2015)

Kotaro Yamada – Kohata Banner Festival (Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture) – In early December every year, a procession of villagers carrying colorful tall banners walk around the village of Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture. The festival is called Kohata Hatamatsuri (banner festival). For Japan, it is one of the important intangible folk cultural assets; for the villagers, the colorful banner parade is the signal of the end of the year and the arrival of the real cold winter. The highlight of the festival is, of course, gigantic banners of up to nine meters long, each made by sawing up long pieces of cloth in five colors of white, red, yellow, green, blue and … Continue reading

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【News】 Soup kitchens for children spreading in Japan as safe comfortable place for children in need (Dec. 6, 2015)

Kazuhiro Eguchi As a drive to support children with challenging family or economic backgrounds, an increasing number of soup kitchens for children have been set up in Japan. They offer the children in need, along with nutritious meals, place where they can come and relax. A vegetable shop in Ota-ku, Tokyo, called Kimagure Yaoya Dandan (Whimsy vegetable shop Dandan), opened the first restaurant for needy children in Japan in 2012. Located in the same building with the vegetable shop, the restaurant opens every Thursday. One day, the owner of the vegetable shop and the restaurant, Hiroko Kondo, 56, heard from one school teacher that some children he knew live on … Continue reading

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【News】 Do up wooden tie and run into work smiling (Nov. 22, 2015)

Kotaro Yamada In Takayama-shi, Gifu Prefecture, wood ties created by a craftsman at a local carpentry shop, TS Sangyo, are drawing attention. The wearable wooden product is named “Nokutie.” It’s planned to go on sale by the end of November 2015 after some final tuning. Nokutie has five parts which are held together by a cord that runs through the parts. The cord is then tied to an elastic cord that goes around the shirt collar. It comes in 10 different locally-grown timbers including cherry wood, maple, chestnut and oak. The parts for one Nokutie are cut out of one piece of wood. This way, wood grain patterns are used … Continue reading

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