Photographic Meanderings/Tauck Essence of Japan

Today is scheduled as the longest day on the motor coach, made even longer as we were stalled for an hour awaiting the clearing of an accident. Three highlights made this day stand out: the beautiful Japanese Alps, The Ichiku Museum, and our reception and  supper at the Hyatt Resort in Hakone.

shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akaishi_Mountains is one of the three mountain ranges comprising the Japanese Alps. I took only one picture of mountains today, but you might wish to go back two days ago to view those snow capped peaks  from our Takayama hotel room. I offer this link as it has several mountain pictures.

The Itchiku Kubota museum was a jewel.  http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/spot/museum/itchikukubotaart.html shows a small picture of a kimono which is the palate with which Itchiku expressed his art. He is exhibited in the Smithsonian, a rare honor for a living artist. Look also at the architecture of the museum. It is executed with large diameter logs balanced in complex triangulations to support the roof. Unfortunately, we were forbidden from taking pictures in the museum, but I did get a shot of a poster showing the process of tsujigahana. Hopefully you will be able to enlarge that shot to read the description.

Take a look at the pictures here:  https://www.google.com/search?q=tsujigahana+kimono&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qcSkU8rLA4TKsQSW8IHgBA&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=955&bih=757

From the parking lot of this museum, one is expected to view Mt. Fuji. The day of our visit was quite foggy, but with a 270mm telephoto, and digital darkroom magic, I was able to get a reasonable picture. We had another two views from the bus, the second one is the header for this blog.  http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/fuji.html

A long day on the bus, topped off by a welcomed reception at the hotel. We were asked to wear yukatas and a neat pair of wooden slippers.

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