Congratulations Jay! With 66 photos to choose from and more than 100 participants rating the photos, yours received the highest rating. You’ve not only brought honor to the Oceania chapter, but you have won a year of free dues for yourself. Thanks to everybody who submitted their wonderful “Japan” theme photos for the June contest. They can still be seen and commented on by visiting https://pollunit.com/en/polls/tcc-2021-june-japan.
The theme for our September 2021 contest is “India.” Click for contest details »
My wife, Margarita, pays respect to architect Tadao Ando’s 44-foot-tall Buddha. Built into an artificial hill and accessible through a tunnel, the Buddha’s head peers out of the opening and is surrounded by 150,000 lavender plants. Just outside the bustling city of Sapporo, this spot has offered a calm retreat for us through every season of the year.
For nineteen years we have been part time residents on the amazing island of Hokkaido. With four spectacular seasons, we love the back-country skiing, hiking in the national parks, and the fall foliage, always followed up by a dip in the onsen. We never run out of things to do and see in Japan’s largest prefecture.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Jan Devier, Lawrenceville, Georgia
This was taken while wandering Hirosaki Park in the month of April, 2018. It is so hard to select one pic to represent the Japanese experience but this sturdy traditional bridge and the momentary glory of cherry blossoms on this glorious day come pretty close. There is a wonderful castle just beyond this bridge which was completed in 1611 and rebuilt in 1810 after lightening struck.
Laurel Glassman, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Miyajima, a small island outside of Hiroshima, boasts one of Japan’s most iconic views of the giant orange Itsukushima-jinja torii gate, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is hard to overstate how romantic and colorful Miyajima is. Deer wander freely through the streets and parks, but this little one seemed content to relax on the shore near the gate.
