Ilya Genkin Travel Photography Blog » Japan

Black Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 03:18:38 +0000

Black Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Chubu region, Honshu Island, Japan

More images: Matsumoto Stock Images | Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography

Gate Tower Building and Hanshin Expressway, Osaka, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 03:19:45 +0000

Gate Tower Building and Hanshin Expressway, Osaka, Kansai, Honshu, Japan

I made this photo of the Nishi-Umeda (West-Umeda) skyscrapers in Osaka, Japan from the top floor of the Floating Garden Observatory in Umeda Sky Building. You can see the Gate Tower Building on the right and Hanshin Expressway. The Gate Tower Building is one of the wonderful buildings in Osaka. It is a 16-story office building in Fukushima-ku ward (suburb) and it was built in 1992. It is notable because Hanshin Expressway going directly through the 5th through 7th floors of the building. It has been nicknamed “beehive” referring to its appearance as a “bustling place”. The Place of crossing highway and high-rise. In Osaka, Japan’s ‘second city’, space for offices is severely limited. So limited that the Gate Tower Building had to lose the 5th, 6th and 7th floors to the Hanshin highway. The elevator passes through the floors without stopping. The highway passes through the building as a bridge, held up by supports next to the building making no contact with the building itself. The floors through which the highway passes consist primarily of elevators, stairways and similar things. The Gate Tower Building is the first building which utilises the three-dimensional road system in Japan. The Hanshin Expressway is part of a network of expressways surrounding Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan.

More images: Osaka Stock Images | Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography

Ema – Prayer Tablets at Kaikozan Hase-dera Temple, Kamakura, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 04:37:47 +0000

Ema, Prayer Tablets, at Kaikozan Hase-dera Temple, Kaikozan Hase-dera Temple, Kamakura, Honshu, Japan

Ema are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshippers write their prayers or wishes. The ema are then left hanging up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) receive them. They bear various pictures, often of animals or other Shinto imagery, and many have the word gan’i, meaning “wish”, written along the side. In ancient times people would donate horses to the shrines for good favour, over time this was transferred to a wooden plaque with a picture of a horse, and later still to the various wooden plaques sold today for the same purpose.

Ema are sold for various wishes. Common reasons for buying a plaque are for success in work or on exams, marital bliss, to have children, and health. Some shrines specialise in certain types of these plaques, and the larger shrines may offer more than one. Sales of ema help support the shrine financially.

At some shrines you can find ema in many languages, as tourists leave their own wishes and prayers.

More images: Kamakura Stock Images | Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography

Namba Parks Shopping Centre at Night, Osaka, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Thu, 19 May 2011 06:17:41 +0000

Namba Parks Shopping Centre at Night, Osaka, Kansai region, Honshu Island, Japan

More images: Osaka Stock Images | Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography

Matsumoto Castle at Sunset, Matsumoto, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 05:30:28 +0000

Picture: Matsumoto Castle at Sunset, Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Chubu region, Honshu Island, Japan

More images: Matsumoto Stock Images | Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography

Osaka at Sunset, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 09:23:04 +0000

Picture: Osaka at Sunset, Osaka, Kansai, Honshu, Japan

More images: Osaka Stock Images | Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography

Storm over Matsumoto, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:10:06 +0000

Picture: Storm Clearing Over Mountains Near Matsumoto, Japan

I just realised I’m shooting more and more black and white photographs. Don’t know why. I always considered myself as a colour landscape person until recently. Now I’m converting some of my photos to B/W and truly speaking I like it.

More images: Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography

Osaka at Night from Above, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:57:20 +0000

Picture: Nishi-Umeda Skyscrapers after Sunset, Osaka, Kansai, Honshu, Japan

More images: Osaka Stock Images | Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography

Red Torii Gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:31:09 +0000

Picture: Ten Thousands of Red Torii Gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Kansai, Honshu, Japan

Yesterday I was reading about hurricanes and tropical cyclones with category 5, like Katrina that destroyed New Orleans or Yasi that recently hit Queensland, Australia. To my surprise the typhoon Melor that hit Japan and Tokyo on October 8, 2009, exactly when I was in Tokyo, had category 5 as well. However it lost its power before it hit Japan so after landfall, Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded Melor into a severe tropical storm. But anyway all flights were suspended and all train lines to the south and south-west were closed. And I had to leave Tokyo for Matsumoto. Spent almost an hour trying to find a detour route. Finally I found that it was possible to reach Matsumoto by bus from Nagano. And the train to Nagano was leaving shortly. When I was travelling in the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagano strong wind and rain gusted and shook the train. Now I’m thinking about that as an adventure but at that time it was a little bit scary.

More images: Kyoto Stock Images | Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography

Kinkakuji – Golden Pavilion, Kyoto, Japan

Ilya Genkin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 07:20:29 +0000

Kinkakuji (also known as “Golden Temple” or “Golden Pavilion”) is one of Kyoto’s best-known attractions. It was built in 1393 as a retirement villa for Shogun Yoshimitsu Ashikaga. He intended to cover the exterior with gold, but only managed to coat the the ceiling of the third floor with gold leaf before his death. After his death, his son converted the building into a Zen temple of the Rinzai school named Rokuonji, in accordance with Ashikaga’s wishes.

More images: Kyoto Stock Images | Japan Stock Images | Travel Stock Photography.