snow equinox

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spring for the world -
a snowstorm blankets
my valley


March 21 is the beginning of spring in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere.



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Northern Japan hit by unseasonal weather
A powerful low-pressure system has brought wintry weather to wide areas of northern Japan.
Weather officials forecast that snow will continue to fall from Friday through Saturday as the depression heads northeast along the Pacific coast. They are advising caution against heavy snow and blizzard conditions.

Within the past 24 hours, about 60 centimeters of snow has fallen in northern Tohoku.
Gusting winds up to 90 kilometers per hour were registered on the northern main island of Hokkaido.
The low-pressure system is likely to develop further when it reaches waters east of Hokkaido overnight.

It will bring heavy snow and strong winds to the area early Saturday morning.
The maximum wind velocity could reach 125 kilometers per hour while 40 centimeters of snow is forecast on the northern and eastern coasts.

Tohoku Electric Power Company says some 10,000 households in the northern prefectures of Miyagi and Iwate were without power as of 11 AM on Friday, due to the heavy snow.

Mar. 21, 2014 - NHK news


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late snow

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- - - - - -  March 6, 2014


late snow
covers the valley -
cats in kotatsu



snow and sunshine
on the same branch -
this old crow



Another cold spell moving in !


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memories

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memories
of Brussels lace
by my roadside . . .






- with friends on facebook -



. Daruma Lace, Brussels Lace .



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autumn colors

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morning sunshine -
raindrops reflect
the autumn colors



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autumn leaves

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autumn leaves -
nature's book is
free of charge



. - autumn leaves - . 　　



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WKD - namekuji slug

after the rain - a hungry snail grows faster she was climbing up the tree munching on the small mushrooms that has sprung up during the long heavy rain

. BIG snail, photo album .


Extreme strong rain and thunder in Ohaga for 4 hours ...
. Ohaga in the Rainy Season .



mudslides on our access road
It was one of the worst strong rains with thunder going on for about four hours last night.
A lot of damage done in many parts of Okayama, Western Japan and Kyushu.
And now the front moves north toward Tokyo and Tohoku.





. Mudslides in Ohaga .



Heavy rain hits western Japan,
may reach central Japan through Fri.
TOKYO (Kyodo) --
A low pressure system and a rainy front brought heavy rain Thursday to the Pacific side of western Japan, prompting the weather agency to warn of downpours in a broad area from Okinawa to western and central Japan through Friday.

Precipitation logged 67.5 millimeters per hour in Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, and 46.5 mm per hour in Cape Ashizuri in Kochi Prefecture, both in southwestern Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
source : mainichi.jp


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BTW
this huge animal is not a snail, but a

SLUG - Nacktschnecke ナメクジ namekuji
Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, that has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell. This is in contrast to the common name snail, applied to gastropods that have a coiled shell large enough that the soft parts of the animal can retract fully into it.

Slugs belong to several different lineages which also include snails that have shells. The various families of land slugs are not very closely related, despite a superficial similarity in the overall body form. The shell-less condition has arisen many times independently during the evolutionary past, and thus the category "slug" is emphatically a polyphyletic one.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !






kigo for all summer

namekuji 蛞蝓 (なめくじ / ナメクジ) slug
namekujiri なめくじり / namekujira なめくじら

Branchiostoma belcheri, Japanese native slug

Best seen at the end and after the rainy season.

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空気にも絶壁がありなめくじり
kuuki ni mo zeppeki ga ari namekujiri



even in the air
there is a cliff -
this slug

Takano Mutsuo 高野ムツオ
source :　takanomutu.exblog.jp

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. - yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters - .
- Introduction -

- quote -
namekujira なめくじら slugwhale

TRANSLATION: a portmanteau of slug and whale; slugwhale
HABITAT: homes and gardens; as a regular slug
DIET: leaves and plants



APPEARANCE: As its name implies, the namekujira is a very large slug. Its body is described as reddish-brown in color, with a long stripe running down its back. From its head to its neck, it is covered in black spots.

BEHAVIOR: Namekujira live in gardens and behave just like ordinary slugs. It is their size that makes them so strange. They crawl across doors and fences, leaving behind enormous, silvery slime trails up to 100 hiro in length—almost 182 meters.

ORIGIN: Namekujira is described in the Kujirazashi shinagawa baori, a comical Edo-period book featuring different types of pun-based whale yōkai. Its name is a play on words, combining the words namekuji (slug) and kujira (whale). In addition to its name, this yōkai’s description contains one more pun. There is a dish made from whale intestines called kujira no hyakuhiro. The name literally means “whale’s 100 hiro,” which comes from the great length of the whale’s intestines. So the gag is that while kujira no hyakuhiro refers to a delicious meal, namekujira no hyakuhiro is just a 182 meter long slime trail.
- source : patreon.com/posts/namekujira-

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .



source : 調布 妖怪通信

namename kujikuji なめなめくじくじ / 蛞抉、slug monster


................................... Aomori 青森県
五戸町 Gonohe

なめくぢの化物 The Namekuji Slug Monster
Once there was an actor with the stage name of タヌキ Tanuki. He got a message from his mother and was on his way home to visit her. On a pass where monsters come out at night it was already evening. A namekuji slug monster came out and took him for a real Tanuki badger. The monster asked him for something that he was most afraid of, so he answered 金 Gold Money . The next evening the slug, who thought to fight him to the death, threw a box with 1000 gold coins (senryoobako 千両箱) into his home. Thus the clever Tanuki became a rich man.


................................... Gifu 岐阜県
高山市 Takayama

If you eat a raw Namakuji or a green frog, asthma will be healed.


................................... Hyogo 兵庫県

A man once helped a monkey which was captured by an octopus and got a Furoshiki 風呂敷 wrapper as a thank-you present. That night he stayed at a lodge. There was a huge storm and a monster seemed to blow in. The man pulled out the Furoshiki and pulled it over his bed covers. Then the wind stopped. When he looked closer in the morning, he saw a slug in the Furoshiki and it seemed the monster had slipped on it and disappeared.


................................... Kagawa 香川県
詫間町 Takuma

Sometimes a beautiful girl is seen at the edge of the pond. But whoever sees this girl will be eaten that night. Once a medicine vendor passed by the pond and saw a monkey crying. The monkey had a stomachache, so the vendor gave him some medicine. The monkey threw something at him and disappeared.
That evening the vendor slept in a small room at a lodge when a huge serpent came out. It opened its huge mouth to eat him. So he threw the parcel from the monkey at the snake and it fled. Next morning the owner of the lodge came looking and they found that the present from the monkey had been a sludge, which is poisonous for the snake.


................................... Miyazaki 宮崎県
東臼杵郡 Higashiusuki

Once a hunter was about to shoot a monkey, but then he took pity on the animal and let it go. On his way home from the forest, the monkey appeared again and gave him a slug. He wrapped it in a wrapper and continued his way home. Suddenly a 山女 "mountain woman" monster appeared and wanted to kill him. But this kind of monster is afraid of slugs, so she run away fast and the hunter reached home safely.
This "mountain woman" is known as Yamahime 山姫 "Mountain Princess", a mountain monster.

. Yamanba, Yamauba 山姥 and 山姫 Yamahime Yokai .



................................... Niigata 新潟県

In former times, the 蛇 serpent, the 蛙 frog and the 大なめくじ large slug called Yamada no hime 山田の姫 "Princess of Yamada".
If one of these monsters hides under the main pillar of a home (daikokubashira 大黒柱), the daughter of the home will heal from her illness. This tale has helped many families.


................................... Shiga 滋賀県
西浅井町 Nishiasai

If people use kumasasa 熊笹 bamboo grass, that has been purified at the shrine during a Spring festival, and hang it in their kitchen, there will be no cockroaches or slugs entering the kitchen.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -

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source : togetter.com/

Jiraiya 児雷也 / 自来也
Princess Tsunade 綱手姫is standing on a Namekuji
Utagawa Kunisada

. Jiraiya 自来也 / 児雷也 "Young Thunder" .
Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki
児雷也豪傑譚 Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari
Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya

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雨十日蛞蝓多き厨かな
ame tooka namekuji ooki kuriya kana

rain for ten days
and so many slugs
in the kitchen . . .

滝川愚仏 Takigawa Gubutsu


人の死やいま光り出す蛞蝓
hito no shi ya ima hikaridasu namekujiri

a person died -
just then the slug
begins to shine

小林康治 Kobayashi Koji (1912 - 1992)

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正一位稲荷大社の蛞蝓
shoo ichi i Inari Taisha no namekujiri

really first grade -
the huge slug
at Inari Grand Shrine

山田ひろむ Yamada Hiromu
at Fushimi Inari Taisha 伏見稲荷大社



半夏生言葉の海に彷徨いて
hangeshoo kotoba no umi ni samayoite

Takashi

Takashi wrote this haiku in response to the image Yamada Hiromu painted.
He points out the contrast to the Grand Shrine and the slimy animal as a great juxtaposition.
source : miyachan55_2006


. taisha, ooyashiro, Ōyashiro 大社 .
grand shrines, great shrines, big shrines

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Slug figures / Shigeru Mizuki
- source : lowbrownie.com/tag/shigeru-mizuki -

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paddies in green

red and green - colors to match a haiku pink and green - colors to match a haiku yellow and green - colors to match a haiku

. Take a walk with me .

From 01 to Nr. 12.


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. WKD : COLORS and Kigo .


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blossoms by the lake

Yesterday I observed some dark pink yaezakura and the green lake below them - super contrast - and no camera ... and not even a haiku for that very special moment. When I feel I am right there where I should be - even in the midst of problems - HERE I am HERE are the blossoms HERE is IT

. Takitani Pond in our Valley - 2010.

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bamboo and cherry

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above the bamobo grove
cherry blossoms shine
in early morning light


My valley has finally made it into spring ...







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source :　wakei-seijyaku

spring patterns with bamboo and sakura


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. WKD : Bamboo (take 竹) .

. Bamboo, the Asian Plant 竹とだるま .


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snow dragon waltz

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six snow dragons
doing the snow waltz
up and down the valley



Just back from some business and on the way, cruising along the terraced rice fields of Ohaga, suddenly a snowstorm of sorts unfolded.

I could not go on with the car, too windy. Like six dragons dancing the snow waltz, the different white swirls came all up the large valley, dangeling and drawing white tails behind them ... spectacular ...

If you know terraced rice fields imagine them in an April snow blizzard
. . . after a while, sunshine on the white coating
and a little later
. . . all is gone again, like that dream from last night . . .

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road down the hill

getting older - my snowy road down the hill .................................................................................

Start the morning walk from HERE

. Snow Morning in March . 　



. Twigs and branches in snow .


. Wilderness and Bamboo Grove .

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wilderness

The Wilderness ................................................................................. The Bamboo Grove

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chainsaws

listening to the sound of chainsaws - neighbours felling trees . maybe some of you will remember the wonderful cherry blossom road Just below my home ... well, the trees are gone! . And the big pines are on the list today ... three are already down with a loud crash ... This is terrible, but we can do nothing but look and listen . . . After a day of rain they were back, March 3 and then this unexpected thing happened An ambulance came and one of the workers was taken to hospital. What exactly happened, we do not know.

. Photos - start from here .


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snow patterns

pink clouds over the snow-bent bamboo - this morning

December 27, 2011
. My Photo Album .


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snow and fog

これを見ろ kore o miro - the loneliness of a haiku poet

. My Photos from a frosty morning .


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WKD - Bread

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eating alone -
I chew my bread
ever so slowly

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焼きたての　パンの匂いや！　梅雨晴れ間

the smell
of freshly baked bread -
a break in the rainy season


summer lunch -
the first bite of
freshly baked bread



sharing my butter
not my bread -
the Bonsai Tiger

My Cat Haiku Kun




the first bite
of freshly-baked bread -
autumn is here

September 2013


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BREAD ... a topic for haiku


WASHOKU
shokupan 食パン bread 　toast and more


Papad from India


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papad-
coming alive
on hot coals

shared bread:
he let her have more
early spring

morsel of bread-
to redeem
humanity

hot bread aroma-
whatever season
i miss mom

vishnu p kapoor


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Ginger bread
kigo for winter

Lebkuchenmann .. Gingerbred man

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Sea of Clouds

夢を観る　また夢を観る　今朝の秋 yume o miru mata yume o miru kesa no aki looking at a dream again looking at a dream - this Autumn morning wie im Traum und wieder wie im Traum - dieser Herbstmorgen The terraced rice fields of Ohaga 大垪和の棚田 Nobember 13, 2005

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yume no mata yume, this is a Japanese expression for something quite improbable.


Click here for more photos of this lovely morning


大垪和　ー　道の駅 My Ohaga Michi no Eki

Morning Walk 朝の散歩

雲海　Sea of Clouds, November 22, 2005

Clouds in my Valley 谷に雲

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Shakuhachi

尺八や　秋の空に響きおり shakuhachi ya the sound of autumn in my valley shakuhachi ya the delicious sound of autumn colors

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Our special guest on this splendid autumn day

The Tea Sensei Gerhardt Staufenbiel

CHADÔ - DER JAPANISCHE TEEWEG
CHADÔ - THE JAPANESE WAY OF TEA
http://www.teeweg.de/


CONTINUED >
Click here for our Morning Walk



. My Photo Album
SHAKUHACHI CONCERT 2005 　




Look at my photo album of a great autumn day in
the Paradise Hermitage, GokuRakuAn



Celebrating 10 years in Paradise
Gabi and Bernd

極楽庵にて10年あまり。。。
わが大垪和、道の駅


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Read my article about
Shakuhachi 　尺八　＜＞　The Bamboo Flute


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Reflections

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Reflections


wayside graveyard -
taking pictures of pictures
while time passes on






I feel like a Japanese goldfish in a bowl :o)






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Monju Bosatsu and the Goldfish


One day Manjushri stood outside the gate
when the Buddha called to him.
"Manjushri, Manjushri, why do you not enter?"
"I do not see a thing outside the gate.
Why should I enter?"
Manjushri answered.

The Iron Flute, Nyogen Senzaki



KOAN and Haiku (01) .. 公案と俳句



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..... FISH as a kigo


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