Two Old Favorite Shisa in Yaese Town Okinawa

Tomori Stone Lion

There are 14 of these original stone lions  (Shisa) to be found in Yaese.

The most famous is the bullet scared one pictured above.

It's considered the granddaddy of them all and has been written about extensively.

See Doc Graff's version of the legend at Apogee Photo Magazine.

Yesterday, three of us went out and visited some of the antique Shisa statues down south.

Lighting conditions were fairly horrible but, we had fun anyway.

One old dude (named Jerry) had never seen these statues before so, we felt like tour guides.

I'd post a photo of him doing photography but, am waiting for his approval.

People can take you to court if, you don't have permission to publish their photo.

This guy is older and probably wiser than me so, you'll have to keep on waiting.

Kogusuku Nise Ishi

This one doesn't look like much but, it's becoming as famous with tourists as the one above.

Over the years, I have noticed improvements to the sites and the ease of access.

Convenient parking, stairways and, trimming of vegetation are bonuses.

Getting out to find local treasures can be a chore when you're sweating swatting bugs.

These statues are easy to reach and even have stairs with handrails, to assist you in climbing.

No Typing Necessary

Here they placed a sign, giving the story in English and Japanese.

In case you're new around here let me tell you, "I Hate Typing."

Whenever you see a sign like this, you should shoot it with your camera.

That way, it won't require translation and, writing a short story becomes simple!

Visit the Stone Shisa of Yaese

Kogusuku Nise Ishi

Tomori Lion



More in Okinawan Folktale: Origins of Okinawa Shisa

In the Spotlight: Omine Seibin at The Hall of Beauty and Peace

Here's a photo of artwork done by Omine Seibin.

This is one of the masterpeices that stops me in my tracks, everytime I see it.

There have been many occasions where I've visited the Stone Lion of Tomori.

There was an Essay for Apogee Photo Magazine.

And, the photos taken for the Then and Now Series.

Omine Seibin's art takes you back to the times when life on Okinawa was different.

My photography doesn't do the artist justice.

You have to see it in person in Okinawa's Hall of Beauty and Peace. 

Find directions to see the original Stone Lion Statue HERE.

Lions, Ghosts and Photoshop

Here's a photo of the Stone Lion in Tomori Okinawa, Japan. Around this time last year my shooting sidekick, Doc, and I were working together on an article for Apogee Photo Magazine.

In order to put the story together, the way we wanted, a few things had to be done differently than any story we had ever done in the past. I don't like going to jail and Doc is a man of character.  So, I figured I'd better do everything sort of legally, this time around.

There was a snag we hit trying to get the US Library of Congress to let us publish a photo of theirs along with the article.

I heard somewhere, if you work for a living and irritate the US Congress you can get into big trouble.

They can make you pay more taxes and pay for other people's insurance policies, as well. Hah !

So, one of the tricks we used to keep things legal was had some SKETCHES made to simulate the original photo of the Tomori Stone Lion with Army guys hanging around while bullets were chipping away at it during the war.

Doc did all the keyboard banging and we sent the photos and sample sketches in to Apogee Photo.

Then, the editor at Apogee came up with an even better idea. Throw some GHOSTS in the photo with Photoshop and make it look exactly like it did 65 years ago. Yeah, baby. Let's do it.  Hah !

Now, I ain't sayin I believe in ghosts or anything like that but this image makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

I bet if I took you to see the Stone Lion in Tomori and handed you a copy of this photo, you'd be real careful walking over there to pet the lion because you might trip over a GHOST !

If you want to know more about the story and see a picture of me actually working check out THE TOMORI LION. If you like what you see over there hit it with a ThumbsUp for me.

Now, I'm not a big fan of Photoshop. I always tell people to learn how to shoot a camera right and you'll never need to Photoshop your pictures. If you want to be a digital artist that's cool.  Just buy Photoshop and all the trimmings and you won't have to waste all your money on camera stuff.

This was one of those rare exceptions because I can't think of any other way to get ghosts to sit next to a lion and pose for a photo without using Photoshop. Can you?

SEE THE PHOTO OF THE DAY HERE