Beautifully done there, Candor7. Wonderful to learn about the spiritual -- and royal -- underpinnings of Japanese society.
This week we took a bus trip to the Kairakuen Garden in Ibaraki prefecture.
A terrific cold wind swept down form the mountains, but I was amazed at the large manicured pine trees. The plum tree blossoms -- the Garden's most famous attraction -- were maybe a week before peak. Another year we'll be coming back and taking the train, so we can be more flexible about the date we visit.
Wonderful to see that Spring is already underway in Ibaraki. Here we have cycles of freezes and thaws.
I long for a pleasant journey among the People of Ishikawa and Toyama.
A drink of hot Shiro Taka sake ( 白 鷹 酒 ), the drink of the Gods at Ise Jingu,....the cold mountain breeze in the face while feeling that glow in the belly!
Thank you poconopundit for bringing those memories to the surface.
The Kairakuen Garden in Ibaraki prefecture has such fleeting beauty, similar to human existence:
