A statue of zebra in Christmas illuminations of Marunouchi Naka-dori avenue

The Marunouchi Naka-dori avenue was illuminated beautifully. The lighting is provided for every Christmas and New Year season.  
Some artworks are placed on both side of the avenue.
The life-like statue of zebra is also one of the artworks. 

Marunouchi, Tokyo, where the gorgeous Christmas mood becomes lively !

Season's Greeting to all my friends

The photo above was taken at Marunouchi where is the most busy business and commercial area of Tokyo. The photo shows a Christmas decorations with a motif of the FROZEN from the animation film produced by the Walt Disney Production.
This movie has already become a mega hit not only in Japan but also in the world this year.

Autumn colours on the water

The lake is called Haruna-ko (Lake Haruna) which  is the crater lake or caldera lake stuated at the foot of Mt. Haruna (4,754 ft), and  water surface of the lake is about 3700 feet above sea level.
Bloom of autumn leaves of this place is from late October to early November.
The lake is totally like a watercolour!

the colours of autumn, part 1

This place is in the mountains of Shimogo-machi of Fukushima Prefecture where is about 100 miles away from my town.
This lake is called Kannon-numa. It is a popular place among photographers in the time of autumnal leaves and fresh green.

the flower which name is unknown

I saw white flowers on a riverbank when I took a stroll.
It was very small flower and those were bloomed in crowded onto a twig as shown in the image above.
Diameter of each flower seemed to be less than 1 inch.
It is supposed to be one of species in Asteraceae family, but I have no confidence that it is.

The plateau where flowers of the buckwheat bloom

The seeds of buckwheat become the raw materials for the soba noodle which is one of the most popular foods for Japanese.　Harvest of buckwheat will begin at the beginning of the next month.
It will be able to eat "Shin-Soba", that is made with newly harvested buckwheat, in November. 

the end of summer

An overblown sunflower is a sign that the summer is coming to the end.

A scenery that midsummer sky is reflected in a lake

This tranquil scenery was taken at Dai-Genta Lake （大源太湖）in Yuzawa town of Niigata Prefecture.
Yuzawa is very famous for two matters.　One is that the town is known widely as a mecca for skiers and snowboarders in winter season of Japan.
Another one is the Fuji Rock Festival which is biggest outdoor music festival in Japan. The festival is held every summer at the Naeba Ski Resort of Yuzawa since 1999.

Now that the Rock Festival had been over, the town of Yuzawa returned to a quiet hot spring town, and the town is waiting for coming snow season quietly.

Thank you for your viewing!
Wishing you a happy Sunday and great week ahead!

a refreshing pattern of a forest

This is a green of midsummer in a forest of Japanese beech.
This forest is loved by people who take a stroll there for forest bathing.

The beautiful shape of nature, Japanese Beech

If you try to touch with your ear to the bark of Japanese beech in a quiet grove, you might hear the flow of faint water flowing in the trunk of a tree. If you have a chance to visit a forest of japanese beech, try to do that!

The picture was taken at the forest of Bijin-Bayashi (美人林） in Tohkamachi city, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. on Aug. 6th.

The place where all women look beautiful

It is the place called Bijin-Bayashi (美人林) where is located in the Tohka-machi city in Niigata Prefecture.
It is said that all women look beautiful in the grove by the soft sunlight which comes through green leaves of Japanese beech.
That's why the place named Bijin-Bayashi literally means the grove of beauties.

Click the image below for more large size.

The sunflowers of Happiness!

Be happy forever!

Hemerocallis fulva or daylily, 忘憂草

It is said that flowering period of this plant is one day almost. If so, fortunately, I was able to catch the best timing of flowering.
The name of Daylily comes from flower that lasts a day only.
忘憂草（Wàng yōu cǎo) is Chinese name of this plant, and it is romantic name.
By the way, I remember one song 忘憂草 composed by Ms Keiko Utoku, who is japanese singer and songwriter, and sung by 周華健(Wakin Chau)

lotus from ancient times

Some seeds of lotus of 1400-3000 years ago were excavated from the digging place for public facilities construction site of Gyoda city in Saitama prefecture.
Further, those seeds were found to have germinated naturally in a puddle of the construction site after rain. Therefore, the city government of Gyoda decided to promote the park as a natural habitat of ancient lotus. And the park was opened about 14 years ago. Nowaday, there are four or five lotus ponds and we can enjoy to look the lotus flower of 120,000 roots in 42 different types of lotus from the end of June to the beginning of August.

Silent prayer

I pray for the repose of the soul of all passengers and crew of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17.