As many of you know, I love Japanese food and hope to visit Kyoto and Hokkaido one day. The best time to visit would be spring when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Please wait a while for the slides to upload and enjoy the spectacular photos of spring in Japan. Have a nice day!
2 comments to SPRING IN JAPAN
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Unknown My dear Walt,
SIMPLY AWESOME!!! I never knew about this poem...I love his 'IF" though. Like what you said, this poem is powerful and spiritual
How did you amass such a wealth of knowledge?
I am sure you must be reading lots during your leisure.
I hope to meet you one day and sit at your feet and listen to your many tales...
Take care, my friend. Thanks for sharing :-).
hugs
Walt Yes Paula, I would love to go there too.
I don't know when Kipling made the trip to Kamakura to gaze upon the
Great Buddha, but his poem upon the subject remains, in my opinion, one of the most perfect evocations ever of 'the Soul of all the East'. Indeed, it makes me want to go there someday.
It is one of Kiplings best, I can hardly read it without hearing Tibetan drums and scenting
joss sticks and seeing saffron-clad monks going about their morning prayers...
It's a profoundly spiritual poem, but no less universal or accessible for that; in fact, I would call it, rather, a wonderful exaltation of life and a call for gentleness and understanding. The philosophy certainly is very moving.
'The Buddha at Kamakura' should also serve as a rebuttal to those who continue to view Kipling as a heavy-handed imperialist, a relic of bygone colonial days. It's true he sings the praises of the British Empire more specifically, of the soldiers and scribes who built that Empire, but he is also more tolerant, more honourable, and above all, more universal than many of his contemporaries and latter-day critics.
And then there is the must see, Kanamara Matsuri; (Festival of the Steel Phallus.)