Icicles on the lakeside

Icicles on the lakeside, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

This is a scene of Lake Chyuzenji in winter.
The lake Chyuzenji spreads out at southern foot of Mount_Nantai (8,156 feet) which can be seen in the photo above.
This place is also one of the tourist spots in Nikko.
At the beginning of the Meiji period, summer villas were set up by Embassy of foreign countries like the UK, France, Italy and the US in this lakeside. Many foreign diplomats visited here to spend summer holiday on the lakeside. They introduced the trout fishing, yachting and boat racing to this place as same as they did in their home country.
It is said that they supervised the stocking of the lake with trout for their good catch of trout fishing, and they established first yacht club in Japan.

Trees of White Birch and Snow-huts

Trees of White Birch and Snow-huts, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

I enjoyed hot spring bathing in one Ryokan at Yumoto Onsen after two miles of snowshoe trekking in Senjyo-ga-hara.
The Yumoto onsen is located at the far end of Oku-Nikko area, and the place is famous in hot spring resort. People visit there to enjoy both ski or snowboard and hot spring bathing. The photos here show Kamakura Matsuri, that means Snow-hut Festival, held at Yumoto onsen in order to promote tourism. Many foreign visitors from Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and other countries also visit there to enjoy wonderful nature of Oku-Nikko.
As for the access information for Nikko, try to check here.

Silhouette of trees on the snow

Silhouette of trees on the snow, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

The photo was taken at the snowshoe trekking in Senjyo-ga-hara, Nikko, Japan.
Senjyo-ga-hara is very beautiful and nature-rich place where is an altitude of 4600 feet above sea level.

feel cold??

feel cold??, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

Icicles and waterflow were shining with morning sunlight. It was 23 degree Fahrenheit (-5 degree Celsius) at Ryuzu-no-taki waterfall, where is about 4200 feet above sea level, in Nikko, Japan.

snowstorm

snowstorm, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

Heavy snowstorm struck Japan on Saturday. All domestic flights departing from Tokyo were cancelled due to heavy snow. Other all public transportations were also delayed or cancelled.
According to the TV news, more than 400 people were injured by accidents which related by snow. Fortunately, I was safe even I took a walk in snow to take photos of snowy scene.
The image above was taken at a Shinto shrine in my neighbourhood.

snow-covered potted plant

snow-covered potted plant, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

When I opened window shutters this morning, everything outside was covered with snow.
The photo was taken through the window of my room.

The valley where the wintersweet blooms

The valley where the wintersweet blooms, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

Wintersweet is typical flower of winter.
It gives off sweet smell.
People visit the valley to find some signs of spring.
But, they can find only wintersweet in bloom.
Their shadows are still long on the ground.
Because, it is still midwinter.
I am really longing for spring.

a withered leaf

a withered leaf, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

Nature created such beautiful art on a withered leaf.
It is my joy to find it, and it is also my pleasure to take photos of such a nature scene.

in a sunny room

in a sunny room, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

I was a reluctant to take a walk on such cold day.
So I have decided to take photos of potted flower in the sunny room.

in a severe cold

in a severe cold, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

It was intense cold these past few days, and the pond in the park was frozen this morning.
Wild Ducks seem to be frozen, too.

Daffodils bloomed under winter sunshine

Daffodils bloomed under winter sunshine, originally uploaded by photoholic image.

I found some daffodils bloomed on a slop of the hill facing south when I took a stroll to the hill near by my house yesterday. It was severe cold day with strong north wind, but I felt spring in my heart when I took this photo.

Morning mist

A morning mist  covered low over the river in one severe cold morning. The sunlight comes through a mist and shine softly on the ground.

Narcissus in midwinter

This type of species of Narcissus blooms in the midwinter. We feel spring is coming before long when we look such narsissus in bloom even in the cold air of midwinter. It was balmy out yesterday, so I went out with my camera for a driving. I found that narcissuses were in full bloom beautifuly just in front of an old buddhism temple located on the skirts of a mountain.

taken by Canon EOS40D with EF-S17-85mm F4-5.6 IS USM, 1/30 f20 -0.7 of Exposure Bias, Aperture Priority AE

この種類の水仙は寒中に咲きます。大寒の冷たい空気の中にもかかわらず、この花を見ると春遠からじを感じます。　昨日は天気が穏やかで、カメラを持ってドライブに出かけました。 山の裾野にある, とある古いお寺の前に美しく咲く水仙を見つけました。

waiting for spring, buds of the oriental paperbush

Cold and strong wind started to blow from late last night, and it was a sharp drop in the temperature this morning. It was very warm yesterday, but today was so cold and more than 10 degree Celsius lower than yesterday. I have come to know again it is still winter now, so buds are still hard and waiting for spring.
This plant is called Mitsumata in Japanese and the scientific name is Edgeworthia chrysantha. As for the English name, it is called Oriental Paperbush. The bark of this plant is used for raw material of Washi (means Japanese paper).


taken by Canon EOS40D with EF 100mm F2.8 macro USM, aperture priority mode, f8, 1/100, ISO400

冷たい強風が昨夜半から吹きはじめ、今朝は急激に気温が下がった。昨日はとても温かかったが、今日は昨日より１０度以上も気温が低かった。まだまだ冬であることを思い知らされた。蕾もまだ固く春を待ってる。
この植物はミツマタと言い、英語ではOriental Paperbushと呼ばれてる。樹皮は和紙の原料として利用される。