Ojizō-sama

Taken from Wikipedia. I knew about it because a colleague mentioned to me the night before while visiting the Tokyo Tower.


In Japan, Ksitigarbha, known as Jizō, or Ojizō-sama as he is respectfully known, is one of the most loved of all Japanese divinities. His statues are a common sight, especially by roadsides and in graveyards. Traditionally, he is seen as the guardian of children, particularly children who died before their parents. Since the 1980s, he has been worshiped as the guardian of the souls of mizuko, the souls of stillborn, miscarried or aborted fetuses. In Japanese mythology, it is said that the souls of children who die before their parents are unable to cross the mythical Sanzu River on their way to the afterlife because they have not had the chance to accumulate enough good deeds and because they have made the parents suffer. It is believed that Jizō saves these souls from having to pile stones eternally on the bank of the river as penance, by hiding them from demons in his robe, and letting them hear mantras.

Pulir cera, dar cera

Sello

Lo peor de ir por Tokyo es la sensación de perderse tantas cosas por no entenderlas.

Entrada del templo

Zōjō-ji

On the day I was departing from Tokyo, I woke up very early and, rather than going back to bed, I decided to do a bit of exploring with day light. It was very fortunate that I did so because I could enjoy this temple and the gardens around it pretty much on my own, which gave me a nice sense of peace and also the feeling I had seen something of Tokyo.

Shinjuku (ii)

Interestingly for me, I had not seen "Lost in translation" before going to Tokyo. But I got to watch it a few days later on the flight between Auckland and Los Angeles, which made for perfect timing.

Shinjuku (i)

The second (and last) evening, we went to the Shinjuku district. Before going for dinner I had about an hour to walk around and get a glimpse of the neon lights. Once in the restaurant, the question came up if I had taken any pictures. I replied that five or six and they seemed genuinely disappointed, but everything was clear after I explained I went for quality rather than quantity...

Tokyo Tower

Cuando estuve en Manhattan, pensé que la vista nocturna era impresionante. Pues bien, creo que Tokyo es, por su tamaño, todavía más impresionante.

A few months back, when I was in Manhattan, I remember thinking the night view from the Top of the Rock was certainly impressive. Well, I stand by my words, but I find Tokyo is even more impressive with its sheer size, no matter where you look at from the Tokyo Tower.

Tokyo - View from hotel

After a day of travelling and a long day at work, this is the view that was waiting for me when we finally made it to the hotel.

Vuelta al mundo

Vuelta al mundo auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen

Berlin - Frankfurt - Tokyo - Seoul - Auckland - Christchurch - Auckland - Los Angeles - Frankfurt - Berlin

Después de una intensa semana de trabajo, ya estoy de vuelta en casa. A veces pienso que los viajes de trabajo están sobrevalorados. Todos los aeropuertos se parecen mucho...

I´m glad that I am back at home after a long week. I almost spent as much time travelling as actually working. But the experience was very much worth it. My first time around the world.