Hiroshima Memorial in Kashiwa

On August 6th at 5am,　諏訪神社 Suwa Shrine in Kashiwa City will hold a memorial service for the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Here is a video of this peaceful place which can be found on the little hill right in front of Kashiwa City Hall.

Yomeiri Fune – Wedding boats at Katori

At Katori in northern Chiba Prefecture, a garden has revived the old tradition of wedding boats to bear the couple down the river. This past Sunday, Japan Times reports, happy newlyweds in traditional costume enjoyed the early summer weather, and next Sunday, and the Saturday after that, there will be more processions. For a comprehensive [...]

A secret garden in Abiko City

春一番 haruichiban, the first winds of spring came to Japan this weekend. Saturday was remarkably warm, and  put away my scarf and enjoyed the sunshine. On Saturday morning, when we were passing the Abiko stationfront in bright sunshine, we saw the monument to Taisho Period artists, and my friend mentioned that some of the houses [...]

手賀沼 Teganuma Marsh

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Teganuma Marsh is such a relief from suburban Tokyo, and opens into wide open spaces, views of Fuji and Tsukuba Mountains, and wooded hillsides. Today’s bicycle ride took me around the north shore of the marsh to the 安孫子鳥の博物館 Abiko Bird Museum. Teganuma Marsh has a great variety of birds, both resident and migratory, and the [...]

布施弁天堂 Fuse Benten Hall

In October, 布施弁財天　Fuse Benzaiten and the 東海寺 Tokaiji in Kashiwa City are celebrating the founding of the temple complex 1200 years ago. The gate is a rebuild, but supposedly the sutra repository in the east corner of the temple complex is original.
The temple claims that Kukai, the great Buddhist scholar-poet founded the temple in the year 807. The [...]