千羽鶴 - Senbazuru (Thousand origami cranes)

Senbazuru is a group of one thousand origami paper cranes held together by strings. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years. In Japan, it is commonly said that folding 1000 paper origami cranes makes a person’s wish come true. This makes them popular gifts for special friends and family.

折り紙 - Origami

Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century AD at the latest and was popularized outside Japan in the mid-1900s. It has since then evolved into a modern art form. The goal of this art is to transform a flat sheet of material into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques, and as such the use of cuts or glue are not considered to be origami.

地蔵 (Jizo)

Traditionally, jizo is seen as the guardian of children, particularly children who died before their parents. Jizo statues are sometimes accompanied by a little pile of stones and pebbles, put there by people in the hope that it would shorten the time children have to suffer in the underworld. The statues can sometimes be seen wearing tiny children’s clothing or bibs, or with toys, put there by grieving parents to help their lost ones and hoping that Jiz? would specially protect them. Sometimes the offerings are put there by parents to thank Jiz? for saving their children from a serious illness.

梅雨 (Tsuyu)

The rainy season is caused by precipitation along a persistent stationary front known as the Meiyu front for nearly two months during the late spring and early summer between eastern China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. The wet season ends during the summer when the subtropical ridge becomes strong enough to push this front north of the region.

annaharo:

Kyoto memories V by manganite on Flickr.

boxofjapan:

Fushimi inari, Kyoto