August 27, 2017

Bamboo grove: Jochi-ji



The height of summer has already arrived here and the shiny green of trees and plants is spreading all around in the glaring sunlight.

The colorful flowers of early summer, which once sparkled lively in the gardens, have mostly disappeared, which makes me find the steady and rapid transition of the seasons.

In these ever-changing seasons, a bamboo grove continues its constant growth and keeps rising high toward the sun determinedly.


Bamboo grove: Hokoku-ji


Bamboo grove: Jochi-ji



The whole body of a bamboo grove is one single living organism and all of its stems are interlinked underground by its cobweb-like roots.

The subtle divergence of nature conditions in a grove brings about a delicate change in the color and form of each growing bamboo stem.



Bamboo grove: Eisho-ji



When you stand alone in the heart of a bamboo grove, you can sense the silent voice and mind of this huge living thing in a gentle wind rustling in the green shade.


White summer clouds: Yuigahama-beach



Absolutely white clouds are staying as still as immense pieces of snowy stone in the deep azure sky of mid-summer.


Sarusuberi (Lagerstroemia indica) flowers: Eisho-ji


Fuyo (Hibiscus mutabilis) flowers: Kaizo-ji


Stone steps: Jochi-ji


Sacred lotus flowers: Kaizo-ji


Byakusin (Chinese juniper)Bya tree: Kencho-ji



The evergreen needle leaves of this aged Byakusin tree keep growing thick as always for about 750 years since the building of this old Zen-temple.