搜尋

Miho Beach at Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, stretches seven kilometers along Suruga Bay. On a clear day Mount Fuji is visible here.

A placard on Miho Beach in Miho no Matsubara, the Miho Pine Forest, at Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, tells the legend of Hagoromo.

Hagoromo no Matsu, the pine tree of the robe Hagoromo, is said to be 650 years old. According to legend, a celestial maiden hung her robe in this place at Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

The Path of the Kami passes the 300-year-old Hagoromo pine in Miho no Matsubara, the Miho Pine Forest, at Shimizu, Japan. Legends claim that the tree serves as a landmark for Kami (Shinto spirits) which emerge from the sea on their way to Miho Shrine.

Long ago, fascinated by the fine scenery of Miho Beach at Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, an angel came down from heaven and hung her robe of feathers (Hagoromo) on this pine tree (Matsu) to have a bath. So this place is called "Hagoromo no Matsu".

A sweeping view of Suruga Bay is obtained from the Kunozan Toshogu Shrine on Mount Kuno in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Fine stonework surrounds the Shinbyo Tower at Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, culminates in the Shinbyo Tower, mausoleum of the first Edo shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1616). It faces west toward the ancient capital Kyoto.

Prayer charms intended to bring good luck hang around a tree at Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Stone lanterns dedicated by military commanders who served under Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu line Byousho Sando, the path leading to the mausoleum at Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

This stairway climbs from the central complex at the Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

A gate leads to the central enclosure at Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Fine Japanese craftsmanship employing lacquers and gold foils is on display at Shaden, the main building of Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

David Stanley posing before a line of torii gates at Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

A guardian armed with bow and arrows keeps watch over the two-story Romon Gate at Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

During the sakura season cherry blossoms bloom above the Kunozan Toshogu Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Kunozan Toshogu is a Shinto Shrine in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built 1617 to provide a final resting place for the first Edo shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa. Thirteen buildings here have been designated important cultural properties.

This red-eared slider was seen in the main pond at the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. A native of the southeastern United States, this species of turtle is highly invasive and has spread around the world with the pet trade.

Red-eared slider turtles cling to an artificial island in the main pond at the Sankeien Garden, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

In spring fringed iris (shaga) blooms in the Sankeien Garden which opened in southern Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, in 1904.

The smaller room on the side of Shunsoro House was originally a tea room built in the early 1600s. In 1922 it was moved from Kyoto to the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

A huge ginkgo tree with its characteristic triangular leaves stands in the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

A harvest moon viewing festival takes place on Teisha Bridge in the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

In 1922 the Choshukaku Pavilion (1623) was moved from Nijojo Castle in Kyoto to the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

The Juto Oido (1591) from the former Tenzuiji Temple in Kyoto has a finely carved wooden door. In 1905 the structure was moved to the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Delicate ink paintings grace the sliding doors and walls of the Rinshunkaku Villa (1649) in the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

The Rinshunkaku Villa (1649) sits at the heart of the Inner Garden of the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The garden was the creation of a wealthy Yokohama silk merchant who brought 17 historic structures here from around Kyoto.

Newlyweds pose before the Rinshunkaku Villa (1649), the central complex of the Sankeien Garden in southern Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

In 1917 the Rinshunkaku Villa (1649) was moved from a site along the Kinokawa River in Wakayama south of Osaka to the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

A statue of professional sumo wrestler Yokozuna Kitanoumi (1953-2015) stands at Kawasaki Daishi Temple near Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.