Thank you !
Received on: January 8, 2020
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
15 January 2020
04 December 2019
31 January 2019
28 January 2019
18 April 2018
#1578 Japan
A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is called sakura after the Japanese (桜 or 櫻; さくら).
Currently it is widely distributed, especially in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere including Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, West Siberia, Iran, and Afghanistan. Along with the chrysanthemum, the cherry blossom is considered the national flower of Japan.
Thank you, Akiko !
Sent on: April 12, 2018
Received on: April 17, 2018
21 March 2018
#1560 Japan
Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社 Itsukushima-jinja) is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima), best known for its "floating" torii gate. It is in the city of Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. The shrine complex is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Japanese government has designated several buildings and possessions as National Treasures.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1996
Thank you, Sushant !
Sent on: March 13, 2018
Received on: March 20, 2018
22 December 2017
14 November 2017
24 August 2017
#1368 Japan
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (広島平和記念碑 Hiroshima Heiwa Kinenhi), commonly called the Atomic Bomb Dome or A-Bomb Dome (原爆ドーム Genbaku Dōmu) is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The ruin serves as a memorial to the people who were killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Over 70,000 people were killed instantly, and another 70,000 suffered fatal injuries from the radiation.
At 8:15 a.m. on 6 August 1945, Little Boy — the first atomic bomb to be used in war — was dropped by the United States Army Air Forces from the Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber. The force of the atomic bomb effectively obliterated the city of Hiroshima, Japan.
On 25 July 1945, General Carl Spaatz, commander of the United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, received orders to deliver a "special bomb" attack on selected cities in Japan. The first target city chosen was Hiroshima, which had an important port on southern Honshu and was headquarters of the Japanese Second General Army with 40,000 military personnel in the city. The bomb was assembled in secret and loaded on the Enola Gay. It consisted of a uranium isotope 235 core shielded by hundreds of kilograms of lead. Little Boy possessed a force equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT. The plane dropped the bomb over the city at 8:15:17 a.m. local time on 6 August 1945. Within 43 seconds of being dropped, the Little Boy detonated over the city, missing its target by 240 m (790 ft). Intended for the Aioi Bridge, the bomb instead exploded directly over the Shima Hospital, which was very near to the Genbaku Dome. Because the explosion was almost directly overhead, the building was able to retain its shape. The building's vertical columns were able to resist the nearly vertical downward force of the blast, and parts of the concrete and brick outer walls remained intact. The center of the blast occurred 150 m (490 ft) horizontally and 600 m (2,000 ft) vertically from the Dome. Everyone inside the building was killed instantly.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1996
Thank you, Yoko !
Sent on: August 5, 2017
Received on: August 23, 2017
#1367 Japan
The Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama are one of Japan's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The cultural property consists of three historic mountain villages over an area of 68 hectares (170 acres) in the remote Shogawa river valley, stretching across the border of Gifu and Toyama Prefectures in central Japan. Shirakawa-gō (白川郷, "White River Old-District") is located in the village of Shirakawa in Gifu Prefecture. The Gokayama (五箇山, "Five Mountains") area is divided between the former villages of Kamitaira and Taira in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture.
The valley is in a mountain region with considerable snowfall, and these villages are well known for their clusters of farmhouses, constructed in the architectural style known as gasshō-zukuri (合掌造り), which are designed to easily shed snow from their roofs.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1995
Thank you, Yoko !
Sent on: August 5, 2017
Received on: August 23, 2017
#1366 Japan
Himeji Castle (姫路城 Himeji-jō) is a hilltop Japanese castle complex located in the city of Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 buildings with advanced defensive systems from the feudal period. The castle is frequently known as Hakuro-jō or Shirasagi-jō ("White Egret Castle" or "White Heron Castle") because of its brilliant white exterior and supposed resemblance to a bird taking flight.
Himeji Castle dates to 1333, when Akamatsu Norimura built a fort on top of Himeyama hill. The fort was dismantled and rebuilt as Himeyama Castle in 1346, and then remodeled into Himeji Castle two centuries later. Himeji Castle was then significantly remodeled in 1581 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who added a three-story castle keep. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu awarded the castle to Ikeda Terumasa for his help in the Battle of Sekigahara, and Ikeda completely rebuilt the castle from 1601 to 1609, expanding it into a large castle complex. Several buildings were later added to the castle complex by Honda Tadamasa from 1617 to 1618. For over 400 years, Himeji Castle has remained intact, even throughout the extensive bombing of Himeji in World War II, and natural disasters such as the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake.
Himeji Castle is the largest and most visited castle in Japan, and it was registered in 1993 as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country. The area within the middle moat of the castle complex is a designated Special Historic Site and five structures of the castle are also designated National Treasures. Along with Matsumoto Castle and Kumamoto Castle, Himeji Castle is considered one of Japan's three premier castles. In order to preserve the castle buildings, it underwent restoration work for several years and reopened to the public on March 27, 2015. The works also removed decades of dirt and grime, restoring the formerly grey roof to its original brilliant white colour.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1993
Thank you, Yoko !
Sent on: August 5, 2017
Received on: August 23, 2017
07 August 2017
#1331 Japan
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| Tokugawa Mausoleum |
Mount Kōya (高野山 Kōya-san) is the name of mountains in Wakayama Prefecture to the south of Osaka. Also, Kōya-san is a modifying word for Kongōbu-ji (金剛峯寺). There is no mountain officially called Kōya-san (高野山) in Japan.
In 2004, UNESCO designated Mt. Kōya, along with two other locations on the Kii Peninsula, Yoshino and Omine; and Kumano Sanzan, as World Heritage Sites "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range".
The complex includes a memorial hall and cemetery honoring Japanese who were imprisoned or executed for committing atrocities during World War II.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 2004
27 October 2016
#1178 Japan
The national flag of Japan is a white rectangular flag with a large red disc representing the sun in the center. This flag is officially called Nisshōki (日章旗, "sun-mark flag") in the Japanese language, but is more commonly known as Hinomaru (日の丸, "circle of the sun"). The flag embodies Japan's nickname as the Land of the Rising Sun.
The Nisshōki flag is designated as the national flag in the Law Regarding the National Flag and National Anthem, which was promulgated and became effective on August 13, 1999. Although no earlier legislation had specified a national flag, the sun-disc flag had already become the de facto national flag of Japan. Two proclamations issued in 1870 by the Daijō-kan, the governmental body of the early Meiji period, each had a provision for a design of the national flag. A sun-disc flag was adopted as the national flag for merchant ships under Proclamation No. 57 of Meiji 3 (issued on February 27, 1870), and as the national flag used by the Navy under Proclamation No. 651 of Meiji 3 (issued on October 27, 1870). Use of the Hinomaru was severely restricted during the early years of the Allied occupation of Japan after World War II; these restrictions were later relaxed.
Thank you, Sun Qian !
Sent on: October 18, 2016
Received on: October 27, 2016
18 August 2016
#1141 Japan | JP-858965
Mount Fuji (富士山 Fujisan), located on Honshu Island, is the highest mountain peak in Japan at 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft). An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about 100 kilometres (60 mi) south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone, which is snow-capped several months a year, is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.
Mount Fuji is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" (三霊山 Sanreizan) along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku. It is also a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and one of Japan's Historic Sites. It was added to the World Heritage List as a Cultural Site on June 22, 2013. As per UNESCO, Mount Fuji has “inspired artists and poets and been the object of pilgrimage for centuries”. UNESCO recognizes 25 sites of cultural interest within the Mt. Fuji locality. These 25 locations include the mountain itself, Fujisan Hongū Sengen Shrine and six other Sengen shrines, two lodging houses, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Kawaguchi, the eight Oshino Hakkai hot springs, two lava tree molds, the remains of the Fuji-kō cult in the Hitoana cave,Shiraito Falls, and Miho no Matsubara pine tree grove; while on the low alps of Mount Fuji lies the Taisekiji temple complex, where the central base headquarters of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism is located.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO: 2013
Thank you, utopiaATS !
Received on: August 18, 2016
Travel time: 10 days
Distance: 7879 km
19 June 2015
#914 Japan
Tokyo Tower (東京タワー Tōkyō tawā) is a communications and observation tower located in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. At 332.9 metres (1,092 ft), it is the second-tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations.
Built in 1958, the tower's main sources of revenue are tourism and antenna leasing. Over 150 million people have visited the tower since its opening. FootTown, a four-story building located directly under the tower, houses museums, restaurants and shops. Departing from there, guests can visit two observation decks. The two-story Main Observatory is located at 150 metres (490 ft), while the smaller Special Observatory reaches a height of 249.6 metres (819 ft).
The tower acts as a support structure for an antenna. Originally intended for television broadcasting, radio antennas were installed in 1961, but the tower is now used to broadcast signals for Japanese media outlets such as NHK, TBS and Fuji TV. Japan's planned digital television transition by July 2011 was problematic, however; Tokyo Tower's height, 332.9 m (1,092 ft) was not high enough to adequately support complete terrestrial digital broadcasting to the area. A taller digital broadcasting tower, known as Tokyo Skytree, was completed on February 29, 2012.
Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー Tōkyō Sukaitsurī) is a broadcasting, restaurant and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010 and reached its full height of 634.0 metres (2,080 ft) in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Towe and the second tallest structure in the world after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m/2,722 ft).
The tower is the primary television and radio broadcast site for the Kantō region; the older Tokyo Tower no longer gives complete digital terrestrial television broadcasting coverage because it is surrounded by high-rise buildings. Skytree was completed on 29 February 2012, with the tower opening to the public on 22 May 2012. The tower is the centrepiece of a large commercial development funded by Tobu Railway and a group of six terrestrial broadcasters headed by NHK. Trains stop at the adjacent Tokyo Skytree Station and nearby Oshiage Station, and the complex is only 7 km (4.3 mi) north-east of Tokyo Station.
Thank you, Meilin !
Sent on: June 12, 2015
Received on: June 18, 2015
16 April 2015
#857 Nagasaki, Japan
Glover Garden (グラバー園 Gurabāen) is a park in Nagasaki, Japan built for Thomas Blake Glover,
a Scottish merchant who contributed to the modernization of Japan in
shipbuilding, coal mining, and other fields. In it stands the Glover
Residence, the oldest Western style house surviving in Japan and Nagasaki's foremost tourist attraction.
The Glover Residence is noted for its blend of Western and Japanese elements and is an example of treaty port
building. This type of architecture closely resembles one-story
bungalows used by foreigners in Hong Kong or Shanghai and imported to
Japan by British traders. Rather than following contemporary Victorian
styles, this type of building more closely reflects the Georgian
aesthetic popular in Britain during the previous generation.
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Aitäh, Helari !
Sent on: April 1, 2015
Received on: April 13, 2015
#856 Nagasaki, Japan
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Night view of Nagasaki from Oura Catholic Church.
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Nagasaki Lantern Festival at Minato Park.
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Dragon Dance of Kunchi Festival.
Kunchi, also Nagasaki Kunchi or Nagasaki Okunchi, is the most famous festival in Nagasaki, Japan. It began as a celebration of autumn harvests in the late 16th century and became a shrine festival when Suwa Shrine was founded in 1642. Another purpose was to check for hidden Christians after the ban on Christianity. This is still evident today in the custom of garden showing (庭見せ niwamise),
when the presenting neighbourhoods open up their homes to public
scrutiny. One of the most famous performances of the festival is the "Dragon Dance" which was originally performed on New Year's Eve by the Chinese
residents of Nagasaki. Rehearsals for the festival begin on June 1.
From October 7-9 the presentations of the festival, which vividly
reflect Nagasaki's colourful history, spill over from the three festival
sites into the streets and create an atmosphere of celebration
throughout the city.
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Meganebashi or Spectacles Bridge, over the Nakashima River (中島川) was built in Nagasaki in 1634 by the Japanese monk Mokusu of Kofukuji Temple. It is said to be the oldest stone arch bridge in Japan and has been designated as an Important Cultural Property.
It received the nickname "Spectacles Bridge" because its two arches and
their reflection in the water create the image of a pair of spectacles.
On July 23, 1982, a disastrous deluge washed away six of the ten stone
bridges over the Nakashima River. Meganebashi was badly damaged but
fortunately almost all the original stones were retrieved and the bridge
was restored to its original appearance.
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Night view of Nagasaki City.
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Night view of Nagasaki City.
Aitäh, Helari !
Sent on: April 1, 2015
Received on: April 13, 2015
20 February 2015
#807 Japan
The UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara encompasses eight places in the old capital Nara in Nara Prefecture, Japan. Five are Buddhist temples, one is a Shinto shrine, one is a Palace and one a primeval forest. The properties include 26 buildings designated by the Japanese Government as National Treasures as well as 53 designated as Important Cultural Properties. All compounds have been recognized as Historic Sites. The Nara Palace Site was designated as Special Historic Site and the Kasugayama Primeval Forest as Special Natural Monument. Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji and the Kasugayama Primeval Forest overlap with Nara Park, a Place of Scenic Beauty. UNESCO listed the site as World Heritage in 1998.
Tōdai-ji (東大寺, Eastern Great Temple), is a Buddhist temple complex, that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), houses the world's largest wooden statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu (大仏 ). The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara",
together with seven other sites including temples, shrines and places
in the city of Nara. Deer, regarded as messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion, roam the grounds freely.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1998
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Thank you, Hiroaki !
Sent on: December 8, 2014
Received on: February 19, 2015
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