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Date Posted: 13:17:19 06/27/00 Tue
Author: j-girl
Subject: Ever adventuring...

My latest jaunt over this end of the Pacific, was up to Hiraizumi were I stayed in overnight in a temple holding an Iris festival in their *Heian* period gardens, where there were 30,000 plants of around 300 varieties - I did not know that there *were* so many types of irises - many of them (varieties that is) dating from the Muromachi period - I did not know that irises like these were possible: big floppy crinkly flowers larger than an open hand! amazing!

Canberran's take note - Floride go jump this was excellent!

And up the hill was Chuzonji temple which houses the Konjikido a *golden* mauseleum houseing the *mummified* remains of some Fujiwaras. Now if you efver had a thought to visit the golden pavillion in Kyoto, it is simply shitty by comparison with this one. For starters, they never finnished the one in Kyoto, but this one was gold from roof to floorboards - only the wooden roof tiles were not covered in gold leaf! It is so precious that it was the first thing in Japan to be named as a National Treasure and has another building built *around* the whole thing to protect it behind glass in a carefully controlled environment. Inside are statues of Buddhas etc. and the pillars and railings are all inlaid with mother of pearl... But the colour of the gold...

Real gold has this amazing property of reflection where it is not only bright and shiny but somewhere in the shadows where it refects against itself comes this orangey glow like nothing else on earth. and on a grand scale up close (the glass allows you to get wihin metres of this place) it is simply breathtaking. -wow-

And then there was the stupidity of the annual Iris festival photography competition, where over a hundred wanna-be photographers, most of them *very* professional indeed, came along to get happy snaps of three models posing amongst the flowers and by the lake side. - These girls, dressed in lovely summer kimono, up to their waists in flowers, were also sporting rather attractive gumboots for tromping through the mud! It was very silly.

And - I also got to see a Noh style temple dance too. And I have to admit that I have a greater respect for Noh now - the dances may be a bit slow, but... the acting is amazing.

Suffice it to say I had a rather wonderful time -
Did *lots* of artwork and nearly finnished both my sketchbooks!

enough for now.
s.

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