[Leica] [IMG] Aoshima and The Devil's Washboard

[geordiepete211 at yahoo.co.uk (Peter Cheyne)]

As today was Marine Day in Japan, we took a stroll around Aoshima, a  
local island.  'Ao' means 'blue' or 'green', and 'shima' -sometimes  
'jima'- means 'island'.  So it is a green island.  Surrounding the  
little dome-shaped island is a geological formation the locals call  
The Devil's Washboard, named after the long striations the molten  
basalt formed into as it was  cooled by the sea.  A walkway connects  
the island to the shore, and along it are lanterns, and then a large  
red 'tori' or gate, which in the native Shinto religion marks an  
entrance to a sacred area.

Within Aoshima's sub-tropical forest is a shrine dedicated to local  
gods, with smaller shrines dedicated to local kami, the animistic  
spirits of entities such as the sea and individual trees like the  
banana tree we spotted, but especially venerated in Japan are  
sprawling, ancient Japanese cedars.  Before entering the shrine  
proper, people rinse their hands with a ladle of purifying water, in  
this instance poured from a dragon's mouth.  Stone shishi, or lion- 
dogs, protecting symbols in Japanese shintoism and buddhism, and are  
usually seen at the entrance of temples and shrines.  Looking in, the  
one on the right, a male, has an open mouth ('Ah~') and the one on the  
left, female, has mouth closed ('Nn' or 'Mm').  This originates from  
the buddhist meditation word 'Aum', which moves from open to closed,  
and the people enter the shrine or temple in the middle of the sacred  
space between 'Ah' and 'Nn' that the protecting lion-dogs pronounce.

The photos were taken with an M8 and 35mm 'cron asph.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/geordiepete/sets/72157624535330322/show/

Peter Cheyne