Posts

The Mysterious Building

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  [English and Spanish below] 私にとって、このビルは不可解なミステリーでした。今でも、何のためにこんなに狭すくて、レンガのビルを建てられたのかと聞きたいですね。元ビルの正面だけ残されましたか?謎です。  〜〜〜 This building is an unsolved mystery to me, even nowadays. Why did they build such a narrow, brick building? Or did they just preserve the old façade? I still wonder.  〜〜〜 Este edificio constituye un misterio sin resolver para mí, incluso en la actualidad. ¿Para qué construirían un edificio de ladrillo tan estrecho? ¿O es que sólo han preservado la antigua fachada? Sigo sin saberlo.

Modern in Antique

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  Lady in kimono taking photos of red autumn leaves [Español debajo 日本語は下記] Again, a photo showing a contrast, this one between the modern day technology and the old attire that is still widely used in Japan (in certain occasions) nowadays. I took this picture in a temple in Kyoto, when I was, like everyone else there, hunting for red autumn leaves ( momijigari). That is to say, going to spots with beautiful aumtun leaves and taking photos of them, like the lady above. She caught my attention inmediatly, since she was the only one wearing a kimono (look at those patterns: very atumn-like indeed!), a very traditional and typical image, were it not for the modern reflex camera she is using. Come to think of it, you can consider this too a typical image now: Japanese people wearing traditional clothes ( kimono , yukata , and so on) and using the latest smartphones, cameras and whatnot. The old and the new living together, oh yes.  また対照的な写真を選びましたね。今回は見る通り、伝統と現在についての画像です。京都の寺で紅葉狩りに行って、あの女の

A Punctual Ray of Light

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  Train over Tamagawa river [English below 日本語は下記] En Japón oscurece mucho más pronto que en España, por lo que los días se me hacían increíblemente cortos, y la noche podía sorprenderme fácilmente en mitad de un paseo vespertino, como en el caso de esta foto. A veces, harta de mi rutina diaria y de ver siempre los mismos edificios y casas, tomaba el tren y me bajaba en la Estación de Tamagawa, para pasear junto a la ribera del río al atardecer. Muchas veces, antes de que me diera tiempo a volver, ya se había hecho de noche, y tenía que darme prisa para regresar a la estación, pues no había farolas de ningún tipo que iluminasen esa zona, y la oscuridad era total. No obstante, en algunas ocasiones, subía hasta el mirador que hay junto al santuario cercano a la estación y contemplaba los rascacielos de Musashi Kosugi de la otra orilla, y los fugaces y ruidosos rayos luminosos que penetraban la negrura como flechas de luz que cortaban la oscuridad a intervalos muy puntuales y exactos: los

Twilight at Odaiba's Beach

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Odaiba's Beach [English and Spanish below] お台場といえば、フジテレビビルや自由の女神などですよね。だからこそ、あんな代表的な観光スポットを別にして、より穏やかなビーチを見せたかったです。まあ、人気がないというわけがありませんが、ただそんなに賑やかじゃないです。ちなみに、お台場は東京の中でとても好きな所です。特に、日暮れの光景が感動させられるので、夕方に行くことが多かったです。夕日の空はだんだん暗くなって、レインボーブリッジは明るくなって、船たちもキラキラでカラフルなイルミネーションをつけました。 闇は自分の身を少しずつ覆われ、静かな空気で向こうの鮮やかな明るさを眺めるのが好きでした。賑やかな街は近くても、まだ明るくなく安らかな場所にいる事が出来ます。こういう対照のようには日本の一つの魅力だと思いますね。 〜〜〜 If you have ever been to Odaiba, you know the most popular spots are the Fuji TV building, the Statue of Liberty, and such. However, leaving those aside, I wanted to show you a photo of Odaiba's Beach at nightfall, when it is a bit calmer. There is still some people, but it is certainly not as bustling as other areas of this artificial island. Odaiba is one of my favourite places in Tokio, specially at sunset, since the views are superb. That is why I used to go around twilight, when the sun was setting down and the sky was slowly turning dark, while the Raibow Bridge became alit with that impressive i

Of Bamboo and Moths

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  Bamboo and a moth One day, a couple of weeks after arriving in Japan, I decided to go and explore the city where I lived, beyond the few places I already knew. I discovered that there were more natural places, parks, and greenery than I thought at first, and I liked my place even more. That is when I spotted this little bamboo grove where a moth  had stopped its flight. I find the sight of bamboo quite soothing and refreshing, and bathing in its greenish shades feelt as I had travelled to a different unearthly land. However, what drove me to take this picture was the little moth that was resting on it. It draw my attention as soon as I saw it, and I had to photograph it. Moths are beautiful, are not they?  〜〜〜 Un día, unas semanas después de haber llegado a Japón, decidí ir a explorar la ciudad en la que vivía, más allá de los cuatro lugares que ya conocía. Así, me di cuenta que había mucha más naturaleza de la que en un principio había supuesto, con gran abundancia de parques y zona

The Unexpected

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  Spider-Man: "Do you fancy some beer, yo?" [English below 日本語は下記] La foto que traigo hoy la tomé en un puesto de bebidas durante un festival que se celebra anualmente en el santuario de Nezu, en Tokio. Reconozco que simplemente me hizo gracia que hubiesen puesto un muñeco de Spiderman ahí, y por eso le saqué una foto. Sin embargo, creo que esta imagen resume muy bien un aspecto que yo encuentro muy particular de Japón: Encontrar lo inesperado en los lugares más azarosos. Habrá más fotos de este estilo, no lo dudéis.  〜〜〜 今日は東京の根津神社のお祭りの時の写真です。意外に、屋台でこのちびスパイーダーマンを見つけて、面白いなと思ってつい写真を撮ってしまいました。なんか、日本でこういう思いがけない発見がいっぱいあったので、沢山のちょっぴり変わった写真があります。こういうのが好きですからね。  〜〜〜 I took today's picture at one of the stalls that are set up during the Nezu Shrine festival, in Tokio. I must admit I just found it funny that they had placed a tiny Spider-Man there, and I simply could not resist taking a photo of it. However, I think this picture is a very good example of something I find really pa

Higanbana

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  Red Spider Lilies [Español debajo 日本語は下記] Autumn is also the time of this wonderful flowers in Japan: The red spider lilies. Obviously, I took a lot of pictures of them, since they do not grow in Spain, as far as I know. I had always considered them really beautiful, but I did not know anything about them when I photographed them. I did not know they are poisonous, nor that they are offered in funerals, much like other kinds of lilies in other parts of the world, and are often seen in graveyards. Their name in Japanese means Flowers of the Autumn Equinox, and they are also called flowers of the dead. You can easily guess they have an ominous image about them. Actually, spider lilies were brought (like many, many other things,) from China to Japan, but the Japanese only brought with them the female flowers. Therefore, they can only be grown from bulbs by gardeners, and they do not grow by themselves in the nature.  〜〜〜 En otoño también florecen estas maravillosas flores en Japón: Las