Today's "I'm laid off and bored" project.
Figured a torii gate for my desk would be really nice. So why spend $10 and buy one when I could 1) Pinch the skin between my thumb and finger between a hammer and chisel. 2) Make a mess everywhere. 3) Aggravate my lower back pain by bending over chiseling. 4) Realize how much of a pain in the ass cutting a mortice in a round dowel is.
Thankfully wood filler exists. 
Photo 1: Red and white plum blossoms in the huge Imperial Palace park in north-central Kyōto City.
2. A gate to the inner precincts of the Kyōto Imperial Palace where the Emperors used to live for around a thousand years.
3. One of the Shintō shrines in the palace grounds, with bamboo, camellias, and white plum blossoms. The Imperial family is an integral part of the indigenous Shintō religion, with the Emperor a kind of deity identified with the nation and its lifestyle rhythms traditionally, such as through rituals for a bountiful rice harvest.
4. Close-up of pink plum blossoms. In the transition from winter to spring, the weather is often rainy, cloudy, or hazy, and the darker varieties of plum blossoms do not stay fresh for long after flowering, so it is difficult to get a clear photo like this, especially with a mobile phone. I do edit the frame to get closer and larger.
Photo 1: kawazu-zakura (河津桜), an early blossoming variety of cherry blossoms, which I found at a little-known site in Yodo (淀) in southeastern Kyōto Prefecture.
2: the largest gorintō (五輪塔) in Japan, representing five elements of the universe.
3-4: Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū (石清水八幡宮) is a major Shintō shrine in southeastern Kyōto Prefecture. It has exquisite architecture, many stone lanterns, and covers a large forested hill, a pristine environment for hiking.
Watching Japanese wood carvers using hand-tools! Relaxing and informative!
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/2007546/
#HandTools #Japan #WoodCarving #Shinto
Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, Japan. #DailyInari #Shinto #torii #Japan
Shimenawa are also placed on objects known as yorishiro, believed to contain kami or spirits, such as on certain trees or rocks. Below is a sacred tree at Kasuga Taisha in Nara and sacred rocks in a sub-shrine at Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. All photos are my own. #JapaneseFolklore #Shinto 3/3
In Japan, torii are traditional gates that are often seen at the entrance to Shinto Shrines. They're believed to symbolise the transition from the mundane world to the sacred space within. They are often accompanied by shimenawa, ropes made of twisted dried rice straw... #MythologyMonday #Shinto 1/3
Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. #DailyInari #Shinto #torii #Japan
Fox guardian statue at Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. #DailyInari #Shinto #kitsune #Japan
An Inari shrine in the grounds of Otoya Shrine on the Philosopher's Path, Kyoto. #DailyInari #Shinto #kitsune #Japan
Sasuke Inari Shrine in Kamakura. #DailyInari #Shinto #kitsune #Japan
Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. #DailyInari #torii #Shinto #Japan
Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. #DailyInari #Shinto #torii #Japan
A small Inari shrine in the grounds of Awata Shrine in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. #DailyInari #Shinto #kitsune #Japan
A small Inari shrine in the grounds of Awata Shrine in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. #DailyInari #Shinto #kitsune #Japan
In Japan, torii are traditional gates that are often seen at the entrance to Shinto Shrines. They are believed to symbolise the transition from the mundane world to the sacred space within. The torii below is at one of the entrances to Nezu Shrine in Tokyo. #MythologyMonday #torii #Shinto
Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. #DailyInari #Shinto #torii #Japan
Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. #DailyInari #Shinto #torii #Japan
