Fireworks Food

During and after the fireworks show, many small stalls were located nearby selling all kinds of western-style and Japanese-style snacks ranging from hot dogs to squid-on-a-stick.

Other stands sold beer, snow cones, and just anything you could think of to help one cool off in the hot, humid weather. I wonder how the folks living in the nearby condos feel about having a front-seat view to the fireworks and a front-seat view to the garbage left strewn all over the place the following morning? 

Yakitori is still one of my favorite foods since coming to Japan. It's still a bit pricey, so I only enjoy it on special occasions. 

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Moon Sail

Landmark Tower on the right and and Queen's Square office/shopping complex on the left (the three-tiered building). I love going to Queen's Square for Starbucks and Krispy Kreme! 

The Ferris wheel alternates with different colors and different times of night. My guess is with the red, they are maybe trying to emulate the fireworks display we just enjoyed. 

One of the more iconic hotels in Yokohama. The upper structure of the hotel is like the shape of a sail. Aesthetics meets functional design.

We were lucky to catch a full moon tonight. A nice way to top off a night of fireworks!

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Happy Birthday 2012

For the first time in many years, I actually took a day off on my birthday and went to see some fireworks.

This fireworks display is sponsored every year by the Kanagawa Shinbun newspaper publisher. 

Actual fireworks are shot of barges anchored in Tokyo Bay in the Port of Yokohama off the coast of Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama.

I wanted to take more pictures,  but had a hard time trying to use the camera in the dark. 

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Kugenuma - Mt. Fuji

Went to the beach this afternoon after work. Was glad to see the beaches were still somewhat clean.

An added bonus was to be able to catch a clear view of Mt. Fuji. The grainy shot is a result of taking these shots with an iPhone 4S. Not the best camera for landscape shots. 

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Sankeien Gardens - Shrine Pagoda

The founder of this garden was also able to salvage some old shrines that were planned for demolition. I am glad that he saved these structures for future generations, and attempted to retain the original details and parts of the structure as much as possible.

We are fortunate now to have fully grown trees surrounding these structures, which now gives them the appearance of having always been here. This may have been what the structures looked like in their original settings. 

I can't resist taking shots of moss covered rocks. I can never get enough.

On the far end of the garden at the top of a small hill is a pagoda. This pagoda has a mixture of both Buddhist motifs and other design features found in Shinto shrines as well. 

Love how the Japanese have incorporated different parts of other traditions and cultures and melded them into something new and different that can now be truly called Japanese. 

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Sankeien Gardens - Farmhouse Upstairs and Interior

Rafters of the old farmhouse interior reveal a method of using straw ropings and various binding techniques to hold the roof secure to the mainframe. No nails used at all!

The dark coloring of the wood is a result of using a hibachi or Japanese-style open grill in the main room downstairs. The smoke from the charcoals rises up and adds a natural resin to the wood and other materials to help harden them, make them a little fire resistant, and acts as a kind of bonding agent.

View from upstairs looking down on the staircase leading the first floor. I seldom see these kinds of homes with hand rails. 

Roof frame and straw rope binding. 

Some parts of the flooring have geometrical designs formed by layering and positioning small pieces of wood in a certain fashion. 

Am really impressed with the binding of this roof!

Downstairs, the walls have also been "cured" by smoke and heat from the open charcoal pit or hibachi.

The hibachi is sunken into the main floor downstairs, where food was cooked, water heated for tea and soup, etc. Also, used to keep warm during winter.

The paper sliding doors and windows must have been somewhat cold during winter, but offer a privacy while allowing sufficient sunshine indoors since they didn't have electric lights back the days of this structure.

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Sankeien Gardens - farmhouse

I could easily picture myself living in the Japanese countryside, relaxing on this kind of back porch drinking some ice-cold barley tea while listening to the cicadas humming all afternoon long!

Upkeep of a thatched roof would require learning new skills that are known among fewer and fewer of the Japanese with each passing generation.

I wonder if I would even be able to afford the insurance premiums if I lived in such a house. They are rather susceptible to fires, although structurally resistant to earthquakes due to the use of joint construction.

Keep coming back to this back porch. Can't quite get it out of my head!

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.