Japan Photographs

The colorful ribbons hanging from the rafter in this temple are grasped (as this women...

Traditional players of the biwa instrument strumed along while they recited ancient ballads. This biwa...

An old snack stand serves up finger food along a lane that pilgrims to a...

The headdress of this character in a Noh play displays the crane, a highly symbolic...

Paper-folding, or origami, is an ancient Japanese art. Almost every Japanese kids learns how to...

A farmer in the southern island of Kyushu trues his saw, after he sharpens it....

Of all the many castles I saw in Japan, this one struck me as the...

Modern Japan has long supported small farmers despite its rapid industrialization. These three women plant...

This priest is playing a shinoku (sp?) a traditional Japaness bamboo pan flute in his...

There aren't too many places left in Japan where folks still wear traditional clothing all...

Two weavers rest in a traditional farm house in the Ogamashi region of Japan, near...

During this ceremony the priestess ascended up the stairs until she was out of view,...

The austere lines and simple elegence of Japanese style are very evident in this gatehouse...

In the streets of old Japan, windows and doors are caged in wood grids. This...

Shinto priests blow a conch horn to announce the beginning of a ceremony marked by...

In the obon festival, folk get dressed in their evening robes and light candles that...

Bamboo shoots are a delicacy. They are cooked in soups, and occasionally eaten raw. They...

Extravagent costumes, acrobatic gestures, quasi-martial arts, and drama -- that's kubuki to me a westerner....

In the courtyard of a temple complex, the musicians in a traditional Noh show take...

Nothing is too bright at cherry blossom time. Masks, some based on traditional Japanese plays...

Fresh baked squid "muffins" are served at this small shop on a street in Kyushu....

In the Japan alps the traditional arts still linger. This village features many gasso houses...

I came across this scene while walking in the woods in Japan, not far from...

I was walking down a street in a suburban village on the island of Kyushu...

Pilgrimages are still an important element in Japanese spiritual life. These women are dressed for...

The magnificant view from the great room in the house of a temple priest. The...

It was a Japanese temple garden, it was spring, and it was beautiful....

The most surprising thing to me about bamboo was to realize that it could grow...

Burning incense is the east Asian way of blessing a god. This idol is a...

These three women were sitting in a doorway (raised floor) in a fishing village along...

I spotted this farmer walking along the tiny slivers of untamed land (never real wilderness...

Snowfall in Japan Alps, northern Honshu....

Picnics under cherry blossoms is a uniquely Japanese tradition. It's a time to dress up...

Classic image of old Japan....

Ukai is an ancient Japanese style of night fishing which is so peculiar that parties...

A tunnel of tori gates create a dramatic entrence to a temple....

In the northern part of the Japan Alps, a small village has an old fashioned...

The art of archery is all about concentration and style. It's not about hitting the...

Throughout Japan, shrines and offerings to forest spirits are quite common. I would often see...

Where land is scarce, cemeteries are packed close and nearly vertical. This one rolls up...

In the beginning of a drama acted out by these large-scale puppets, the puppet masters...