From Tokyo with Love: January 2020
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: art, asia, blogging, buddhism, design, environment, japan, japanese, lifestyle, photos, travel, travel writer
Tag: buddhism
Postcards from Miyajima
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blogging, buddhism, design, environment, japan, japanese, life, lifestyle, photography, travel, travel writer
From Tokyo with Love: November 2019
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan / IKIMASHO
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, blogging, buddhism, design, environment, japan, lifestyle, photos, travel, travel writer
Into the Wild: Exploring the Ten-en Hiking Trail, Kamakura / 鎌倉の天園ハイキングコースに挑戦
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blogging, buddhism, design, environment, escape, japan, japanese, Kamakura, life, lifestyle, nature, photography, tokyo, travel, travel blogging, travel writer, travel writing, Zen
Yabo Tenman-gu Grand Festival
by joostay
Spinning around in suburban west Tokyo
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, buddhism, design, japan, matsuri, photo essay, photography, shinto, shrine, temple, tokyo, travel, travel writer
Drinking Matcha in a Bamboo Forest: Hokokuji Temple, Kamakura
by joostay
1,998… 1,999… Lost in a sea of 2,000 bamboo.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blogging, buddhism, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, Kamakura, life, photography, photos, religion, Shonan, travel, travel writer, travel writing, Zen
Hachioji Matsuri
by joostay
What I was up to last weekend – and the next few to come…
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Traditional Festivals • Tags: art, asia, blog, blogging, buddhism, design, japan, japanese, life, music, photography, photos, religion, traditional, Travel blogger, travel writer, video, writing
IKIMASHO! x DAZED: The spirit-chasing, cross-dressing men of outer Tokyo
by joostay
A report from Ikazuchi no Daihannya, a weird and wonderful ‘matsuri’ that takes place annually to ward off ancient ghosts
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: blogging, buddhism, design, festival, japan, japanese, photography, photos, random, religion, travel, travel writing, writing
A walk around: Kagurazaka, Tokyo
by joostay
KAGURAZAKA / 神楽坂 Despite being cold, the winter months in Tokyo are often the best time of year to enjoy clear blue skies and sunshine. And so, with the sun on my back, I recently headed down to Kagurazaka for the afternoon – a neighbourhood in Tokyo not too far from Iidabashi station. (There’s a great cafe down by the canal there by the way, check it out.) Kagurazaka is perhaps most famous for its picturesque cobblestone streets, cute French restaurants […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: architecture, buddhism, design, food, graphics, ikimasho, japanese, photography, street photography, streets, travel, urban, Zen
Urban Zen: Peace Through Nothingness
by joostay
Realising you are getting old(er) and being perfectly happy about it. A few days ago I came across a piece I did for ACCLAIM magazine in 2015 featuring a bunch of old photos I took with disposable cameras back when I was living in the south of Japan in 2003. It got me thinking how I didn’t really fully appreciate being in Kyushu at the time, and exploring my immediate surroundings. At 22, all I cared about was partying, going to punk […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: advertising, asia, buddhism, CREATIVE, design, japan, Nothingness, photography, tokyo, travel, urban, Zen
Autumn in Tokyo / 東京の秋
by joostay
Colorful leaves (koyo) are to the Japanese autumn what cherry blossoms are to spring. This is a time to seek out silent gardens: to sit motionless among the lonely reds and yellows of nature. Like IKIMASHO! on Facebook
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, autumn, buddhism, change, design, gardens, japan, leaves, nature, parks, photography, tokyo, travel, Zen
Inner Reflection at Inokashira Koen
by joostay
Getting lost in the sound of the Japanese summer Last weekend I took a stroll around Inokashira Koen, a park 10 minutes by train from my house. If I ever decide to move away from Shimokitazawa, it will be to here – in and around Kichijoji. Just west of Tokyo, this area is close enough to the central wards to be convenient but far enough away to have a sleepy, bohemian atmosphere. Then again, being only ten minutes away, I guess I can […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, buddhism, design, japan, japanese, photography, setagaya, suganami, tokyo, travel, Zen
Tōrō Nagashi: Lanterns for the Dead
by joostay
Tōrō nagashi is a long-held Japanese tradition where candle-lit lanterns are released into rivers to guide the spirits of the departed back to the other world.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: ambient, asia, blog, buddhism, buddhist, culture, darren mcclure, design, eilean rec., festival, ikimasho, japan, japanese, peace, peaceful, photography, Porya Hatami, se asia, tradition, travel, Uwe Zahn, video, Zahn | Hatami | McClure, Zen
Sunday Mornings & Mango Ice Cream
by joostay
Last Sunday morning I cycled to Enjoin (en-jo-in), a small Buddhist temple near my house. Despite it only being 10am, the temperature was already pushing 30 degrees and the air was still. The cicadas haven’t started yet, but I feel they aren’t far away. I bought mango ice cream from an elderly couple’s house across the street, and then wandered around the temple grounds, sitting alongside the turtles and koi carp. This post isn’t really about anything in particular, just the small and simple things in life that […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, buddhism, design, japan, japanese, meditation, nature, photography, setagaya, temple, tokyo, urban, wildlife, Zen
The Bhutan Exhibition – Hint to Happiness @ Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo.
by joostay
A rare glimpse into the art and culture of one of the world’s most intriguing countries. A few weeks back I was invited along to the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo to check out its latest exhibition of art and relics from the Kingdom of Bhutan – a country I’d love to go to. Unfortunately, the only time I have ever seen the Himalayas was from the window of an airplane as I was evacuated from the earthquake in Nepal. […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, bhutan, blog, buddhism, buddhist, culture, design, himalayas, ikimasho, japan, japanese, masks, nepal, se asia, travel
Mono no aware / 物の哀れ
by joostay
The sakura have fallen, swept away by the rivers and lost in the breeze for another year. Living gloriously, albeit for only a week, sakura are the embodiment of mono no aware (物の哀れ) – a Japanese Buddhist concept that recognizes the impermanence of life. In ancient Japan, warriors were compared to sakura blossoms – born to live brilliantly and die young. And so when the petals fall, a gentle sadness can be felt all throughout Japan. Spring is still here, but the pre-summer rains will soon begin.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, buddhism, design, japan, photography, tokyo, travel, Zen
Living a simple life in Phetchaburi, Thailand.
by joostay
Quiet days. Simple food. And Monks playing hide & seek…
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, buddhism, countryside, ikimasho, japan, monks, Phetchaburi, photography, religion, rural, se asia, temples, thailand, tokyo, town, travel
Rejecting the Cliché: Sunset over Mirissa, Sri Lanka
by joostay
A fisherman makes his last catch of the day as his wife looks on from the shore In travel photography circles, sunsets get a bad rap – widely considered as overdone and clichéd. The chances of taking a shot that’s different to the millions of others is slim, yet when the sun begins to set and the colours fill the sky most of us feel compelled to take out our camera. Photography means recording beautiful light. And sunsets are all about beautiful, […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, beauty, buddhism, CREATIVE, japan, mirissa, nature, photography, se asia, sea, seascape, sunset, tokyo, travel, video
Inside a Sri Lankan Snooker Hall
by joostay
Where’s the cue ball going?! Becoming one of the lads with the Young Men’s Buddhist Association. As far as tourist destinations go, Galle is a major player in Sri Lanka: a town filled with Dutch-colonial buildings and classic architecture. The oh-so-quaint UNESCO Fort area is home to about 400 historic houses, churches and mosques – many of which date back hundreds of years. Inside the Fort you’ll see many nationalities of tourist, all on tours checking out the buildings etc. […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, buddha, buddhism, colombo, CREATIVE, funny, galle, japan, photography, religion, snooker, sport, sri lanka, story, toyko, travel, video, YMBA
Songkran Festival in Isaan, rural Thailand.
by joostay
Discovering the true meaning of Thailand’s most important festival For the last few weeks I’ve been staying in a small village called Broken Road in Isaan, northeast Thailand. My stay coincides with Songkran – the Thai New Year celebrations from 13-15 April – during which people throw water over each other as a a symbol of their sins being washed away. Unfortunately, in the larger cities these celebrations have become rather hedonistic: an excuse for people to get wasted and […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, blog, buddhism, buddhist, ikimasho, isaan, japan, monks, photography, rural, se asia, songkran, thailand, tokyo, travel
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
by joostay
“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac You know what? Planet earth is an amazing, beautiful place. And we live here. Of all the places in all of the infinite universe, we have somehow managed to end up right here, right now, alive at this exact moment in time. We are floating in space surrounded by forests, mountains, cities, rivers, seas, avenues, […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: australia, backpacking, blog, boat tour, buddhism, cambodia, canada, chinese new year, hong kong, ikimasho, inonesia, japan, japanese, laos, maid of the mist, malaysia, mekong, milford sound, national park, new zealand, niagara, riot police, road trip, round the world, sandboarding, singapore, stockton, sumatra, sumo, Taiwan, tokyo, tortoise tours, travelling, usa, vietnam, volcano, world trip, yosemite
Hamaorisai Matsuri: Sea Festival, Chigasaki, Japan
by joostay
Purification of the sea. Getting wet at the annual Hamaorisai Sea Festival in Chigasaki. Once a year in July thousands of people gather at sunrise at the fishing port of Chigasaki to join the Hamaorisai Matsuri – one of Japan’s most vivid spectacles. Dating back to back the ninth year of Tempo (1839), this annual festival is believed to have started when the sacred palanquin of Samukawa Shrine was carried away and lost in the Banyu River on the way back from the Kokuhu Festival. The palanquin later reappeared […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, beach, buddhism, chigasaki, festival, Hamaorisai, japan, kanagawa, matsurio, mikoshi, sea, shinto, shrines, tokyo, travel
Hiwatari Matsuri: Mount Takao Fire-Walking Festival, Tokyo
by joostay
Fire walk with me. A closer look at the spectacular Buddhist purification ceremony held yearly at Mount Takao in Tokyo. Held on the second Sunday of March every year, the hiwatari matsuri or fire-walking festival at Mount Takao is a ceremony of purification known as ogoma. The ceremony is part of the training of Shugendo, a religion unique to Japan that mixes Buddhism and ancient mountain worship. Practitioners of Shugendo (called yamabushi) prepare a sacred fire and behind the blaze […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture, Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, backpacking, blog, buddhism, buddhist, fire, fire walking festival, hiwatari matsuri, ikimasho, japan, japanese, monks, mount takao, mountain, nature, ritual, tokyo, travel
The fly with no wings
by joostay
Once upon a time there was a fly with no wings. Well, I say ‘once upon a time’ but this actually happened yesterday evening at around 6pm outside my house in Tokyo. My rubbish needs emptied twice a week, and unlike in the UK there are no trash cans in Japan. You simply leave your bags of rubbish at the end of the street for the binmen to collect. (There’s a big green net to put over it all to […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, buddhism, japan, short story, tokyo, travel, Zen
I am a cloud
by joostay
I am a cloud. I grew up in the ocean, surrounded by the gentle creatures of the Pacific – yet while I enjoyed my time swimming with the starfish in Tokyo Bay, I always knew I was destined for something more. Sure enough, that time came and one day I was chosen to leave: to rise above the water and join the skyline. Not many have such an opportunity: to experience life in the depths of the ocean and high […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, buddha, buddhism, cloud, ikimasho, japan, story, tokyo, Zen
IKIMASHO! 