Wordless Wednesday: About Forty Bucks in Japanese Yen

Wordless Wednesday: Japanese Toilet Translation

Wordless Wednesday: Tell Us How

This Bird Helped Me Find Something

Sometimes When I Flip the Bird

Going  back through the files, I decide to do more research, to find current information.

This creature, a Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) has been seen on the blog a few times.

Once in awhile, I hook up my Japanese audience with links, they can read.

Sometimes, I get more information by, poking Japanese into Google search Japan.

A Latin nomenclature, might work or, I use Japanese to copy and paste for searches.

Fooling around with Japanese, which I'm fairly horrible at, can become time consuming.

How About a Japanese Picture Dictionary

That's what this bird helped me discover and, it's quite a handy tool.

Call it a "pictionary" if, you like. That's what I'm gonna do, from now on.

It has pictures, English, Japanese Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana and Romaji listed.

Animals, birds, fish, insects and flowers, are what I'd use it for, mostly.

If you're lost for words in Japan, this site could help with almost anything.

They have astronomy, basic words, banks, bathroom, body organs, clothing, sports and more.

This is a goldmine, worth bookmarking because it has thousands of uses.

For example let's just say, you get upset because it's hard to find large size underwear in Japan.

Walk down the aisles until you find somebody, who looks friendly and say, "Help."

Then if, you saved this on your smartphone, show them a picture of what you want.

They'll point you in the right direction and, probably be amazed at this technology.

Get ready, get set, email this link to yourself  "Japanese Pictionary."  That's what I did !

Animated (GIF) of Takydromus Lizard

Appears to Be a Youngster

 

 

Today was the first time, I ever noticed one of these, high in a shrub.

Just back from a camera walk with the 50MM lens, I was lucky to catch these shots.

Knowing, it would be gone, before I could run, to change lenses, I fired away.

The images would have turned out much sharper, using a big lens. 

Sometimes, you have to make-do-with-what-you've-got or, come home with no photos at all.

While I was outback shooting, the landlord came by, to get something out of his car.

He looked at me funny and, I could tell, he was wondering, what I was doing.

At the time, I couldn't remember, how to say "lizard" in Japanese.

So, I just said, "Konnichiwa" and waited until he was gone.

Then, took the camera and hopped up into the rock garden, to get a bit closer.

It scared the lizard and, it scampered away, real fast.

That gave me plenty of ass shots, which I won't post  here.

They are important items, for the scientific community, showing necessary details.

Anybody, other than scientists, who wants detailed ass shots of lizards, can contact me.

Payment can be arranged through PayPal or, via the postal system.

Large denominations of unmarked bills, in US currency, are preferred.

This lizard appears to be a Takydromus smaragdinus.

Lizard, in Japanese is トカゲ (tokage) for those learning the language.

Related Post:

GIF of the Week: Takydromus smaragdinus

A Search for the Minamoto Tametomo Monument

A Typhoon Sent Him Here

 

Tracking down legends and folktales is what led me to this hill overlooking Unten Port.

Tametomo was an exiled warrior from medieval Japan, stuck in the Ryukyu islands.

The port, in Nakijin is named Unten because, Untenko means fate of heaven.

This, I learned at Okinawan Folktales which is on a Chicago website.

The author, mentioned a monument to Tametomo, being in Unten so, I had to find it.

Driving around the port a few times, we couldn't find any monument.

 So, the next thing to do, was go inside the port and, ask around.

Hah. Most of the people hanging around the place, were Chinese tourists.  Would they help me ?

A Light Came On

 

 

A look in the gift shop, when it wasn't busy, might provide some useful information.

Before going in, I noticed a nifty poster, taped to the store window.

It had a couple of hundred fish pictures on it, labeled in English, Japanese and Uchinaguchi.

The shop was comfortably cold so, I poked around like, I was looking to buy something.

Then, when the shopkeeper wasn't busy, I tried some uchinaguchi (Okinawan) on him.

That got him smiling and, babbling back at me.  And, he knew of Minamoto Tametomo.

While the professor and I, were shooting the breeze with the guy, I noticed something.

The fish posters were rolled up in cellophane and they were selling them.

One had about 250 pictures on it and, another maybe, 295 of them.

The damn things cost 19-20 dollars; that's insane.

So, I joked with the salesman and told him the prices were outrageous.

Not being a filthy rich tourist, I told him, I don't have that kind of money, to waste.

He noticed the big camera I was carrying and said, "Take a picture of one."

He pointed us in the right direction.  We thanked him and headed for the hills.

 Far Above the Port

It was beginning to look like, we would never find this historical marker.

It was hot and muggy outside and, it was getting close to lunchtime.

We had parked at intersection and done some hiking and, were about to give up.

A farmer, driving up the hill, slowed down to take a turn and, I hailed him.

The good old guy, told us the monument was farther up the hill.

We thanked him and hopped back into the air-conditioned vehicle, to keep searching.

As we rounded a bend, the farmer was waiting in his truck, to guide us to this sign.

Rough Translation: Minamoto Tametomo Monument. Yay.

 Not Flip-flop Friendly

 

 

The spot we were searching for, isn't visible from the paved road.

It's about a two minute hike uphill, over some ankle-twisting terrain.

Well, I was wearing my trademark, yellow flip-flops so, five minute hike, for me.

At the top of the hill and, end of the trail, it was nice to see this canopy; it provided shade.

The hottest days in Okinawa are tolerable if, you get out of the sun and, have an ocean breeze.

 Standing on a bench, I shot photos of the harbor below, to create a GIF.

 At the end of the trail is the Minamoto Tametomo Monument.

It looks as if, it's a few centuries old and withstood many, heavy winds during typhoons.

 Historical Significance 

 

Tamemoto, would  eventually move to the south of Okinawa to live.

He married the daughter of the Aji (Lord) of Ozato and, fathered a son.

The boy, would become King Shunten, ruler of the Ryukyu Dynasty.

Having a Ryukyu ruler from the Minamoto bloodline gave Japan a significant claim.

It was reason enough, to annex the Ryukyu islands into Japanese territory.

China Wants to Claim the Okinawa Islands

 

 

It's the 21st Century and the Chinese want to claim some of the Ryukyu islands.

They better start checking their DNA and, figure out, they aren't Japanese.

Quit rattling their swords and, just be nice tourists, visiting Japan.

I'll go back and ask the guy in the gift store to lower the prices of his posters.

Like, let the tourists have them for, let's say, um something like, fifteen bucks !

Okinawan Folktale: Kouri Island -- The First Man and Woman

An Adam and Eve Sort of Legend

 

 

This photo of a mural comes from the front of a religious center on Kouri-Jima.

Inside the building are all sorts of mysterious things about the island.

There's a Japanese children's book with this story in it, you can purchase if, you like.

 Outside, facing the ocean is the adult version of the story and, some different artwork.

The first man and woman are wearing some clothes in this rendition.

When stuff, gets etched in stone, there might be some truth, to the myth.

So, lately, I've been Geo-tagging images and shooting any text, I find.

Behind the man and woman are some utaki (shrines) where people pray.

In the left side of this photo is a plaque inscribed with Japanese Kanji.

Using the Google Translate camera, a broken English version of the story was obtained.

Take this image and scan if for translation if, you like.

An easier (to understand) interpretation was found at Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai.

The First Humans of Kouri-Jima

They came down from above and, lived naked on this small island.

The only source of food was rice cakes, which came down from the skies on a daily basis.

They figured it would be a good idea, to store some food, in case the supply got cut off.

Once they started stashing rice cakes, the daily delivery suddenly stopped.

They began, begging the full moon, to start sending food again because they were starving.

Their prayers weren't answered and, they had to hunt for food for themselves.

One day, they noticed a pair of dugongs swimming near the shore.

That's when they realized male and females had different body parts.

Somebody must have gotten embarrassed and, they decided to start wearing clothes.

Clothing didn't stop them from being the best of friends and, they made lots of babies.

And, when the babies got older, they carried on the family tradition, making more babies.

Now, you know, where all these people on Okinawa came from!

MORE OKINAWA FOLKLORE

5 More Action GIFs from an Eisa Festival and Drinking Afterwards

And A New Word in the Vocabulary

 

 

First, a little explanation about how these photos get done.

When I attend one of these events, I'm not out there having fun; it's work.

To get the best photos, you have to move around a lot.

The idea, for me, is to compose photos that make travelers want to visit these festivities.

My cameras, are never in Auto Mode.

All exposure settings are made manually so, I am continuously checking the light meter.

And, most of the time, using a tripod to steady the shots.

Sometimes, the camera gets ripped off the tripod and, I have to sit on the ground.

The knees and elbows become my bi-pod.

There's no telling who the lady in pink, might be but, she enjoyed having her picture taken.

 This part of the Eisa dance, I haven't figured out, yet.

One of these days, I'll have to ask one of my dance instructor friends about it.

Maybe, they are simulating the planting of rice.

After, shooting the photos above, I decided to move where the sun was behind me.

Not too wild about using flash, I wanted to get as many natural light shots as I could.

When the sun went down, I was in the office, downloading cameras.

After a few hours in the sun, air conditioning felt great.

Some amazing photos were captured so, it was a productive day for me and I'm happy.

Next Came Nominication Time

 

 

It's the way a lot of business is conducted in Japan.

Take the Japanese word for drinking: nomi.

Then, combine it with the English word: communication and you get: nominication.

Well, I have unknowingly been doing that for decades but, just learned the word, recently.

 Now, I know what to tell the missus, the next time I'm out 'til 4AM.

In this sort of business, you have to do plenty of nominicating ! 

If you think I'm joking: READ THIS

Making Friends with the Tiger Dog

A Second Visit with the Ryukyu Inu

Getting down to eyeball level with a dog takes awhile, when you are a stranger.

So, I went back for round two with the cameras today.

Tora, means tiger, in Japanese and, that's this dog's name.

The photo was taken, zooming with the tripod standing tall and I'm looking down at him.

 When I get down to his level and start snapping-away, he doesn't seem too happy.

 So, I figured it would be a good idea to back-off and leave the camera near him.

There's a signed pet release, for this tiger dog, in my wallet.

Now, all we have to do, is get used-to working together.

This Ryukyu Inu is going places.

Wait and see.

Related Post-- Special Ryukyu Dog Photo: The Turaa Inu