Iga and Lotus Blossoms :: Beautiful Japan #79
It's time for the lotus blossoms! Also, a bit about an interesting shrine. Stay tuned for more after the photo break!
The lotus blossoms start coming out around July, and they are beautiful. They make for a nice distraction to the heat. This pond you see is full of hundreds of them.
The shrine is Iga Hachiman shrine. Hachiman is the god of war. I've told this story in another post, but that post is lost to the archives of Steemit so it bears repeating.
Once upon a time the local warlord in these parts was Tokugawa Ieyasu. Before going off to battles, he would being his troops here and everyone would pray for luck in the coming battle. On one particular occasion, he was going off to battle with very powerful enemy and troop motivation was low. Upon arriving at Iga for their normal prayers, he announced they would camp here until receiving a sign from Hachiman of a forthcoming victory.
When his men didn't know was that he has secretly hired a group of nearby ninja to help him in creating the sign the soldiers were waiting for. While they were sleeping, the ninja sneaked in, dug up the torii gate to shrine (which is opposite this photo) moved it several feet and reburied it in the new location.
The soldiers woke up and were shocked to see the torii had moved several feet. A sign from Hachiman! He had heard their prayers—victory was assured! They went on to win the battle.
Clever guy, that Ieyasu. He would later go on to conquer the entire country and be named Shogun. No doubt using motivating tricks like this his entire way to the top.
By the way, I also did a monochrome version of this photo. Which do you like more?
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| Don't miss the other great photos in the Beautiful Japan photo series! |
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Recent Photos
- 71 — Shrine of the War God
- 72 — Shooting the Cherry Blossoms
- 73 — Stand Out Sakura
- 74 — Just Dropping In
- 75 — Red, White, and Pink
- 76 — The Star of Spring
- 77 — Jupiter Jazz
- 78 — Gateway Into Another World
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 | David LaSpina is an American photographer lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time. More? |
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I like the color one more. I think it pops more. I suppose that makes me a non-hipster normie.
haha a non-hipster normie, eh? Maybe so :)
Very beautiful. My favorite of your photos so far.
The color for sure, it’s the vibrance and light that makes the image for me.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it :) I have some more from this photo shoot, including close ups on the lotus blossoms. Will have to get around to posting more from here.