Sankei-en Gardens

Here's a post I forgot to create earlier.
Late last summer (2012) we went with three other senior missionary couples to an awesomely beautiful tourist attraction near Yokohama.  Over a hundred years ago, a Japanese man made a fortune in the silk industry.  On his spacious property he erected two large gardens.  He then purchased many hundreds-of-years-old buildings (residences, tea houses, shrines, etc.) that were located throughout Japan and restored them in his gardens.  After his death his family opened up the entire area to the public.  We feel so lucky to have toured these beautiful grounds.  The only thing that could have made it better would have been to be there with the summer blossoms or the fall colors.  Still, even without those, this place was amazing!!!

Elders Bridge, Harrison, Galbraith, and Johnsen

All eight of us minus one photographer

The pagoda and most of the buildings you will see are 600-700 years old.  

This pagoda was built before Columbus set foot in America!

Elder and Sister Harrison lived in England with Jim's brother Randy, and their Sandy home is in the same stake  as Jim's brother Bruce.  Such a small world!

Neat roof ornamentation!

 

We couldn't believe our good fortune!  Wedding photos were being shot for a formal Japanese wedding!  The building in the background was the ancient residence of a shogun (military general).

This shogun's residence and the surrounding grounds were unbelievably beautiful!

Note the tatami mat flooring and the artwork on the sliding screen doors.

A tea house (of the August moon?)

We ran into the bridal couple again!

Bamboo forest that grows by feet a day!

Views of Yokohama from Landmark Tower

It was a great day for strolling through peaceful and beautiful antiquity

as well as zooming up to the 69th floor of a modern skyscraper

to view modern Yokohama rebuilt after WWII.

A day well spent!

Gates Galore!

In previous posts I have pointed out how so many of the houses come right up to the street.  In a lot of these cases, the homeowners have installed gates.  I believe these serve three functions:
protection, privacy, and aesthetics.  

Click on this first photo and then "cruise along" for a wordless tribute through a number of my favorites. I have truly enjoyed discovering the variety and beauty of these gates as I've explored a number of Japanese neighborhoods in the Nakano area of greater Tokyo.

Even the school yards have beautiful gates!