This was my second trip to Kyoto, and I decided to return to this amazing treetop temple. At night, the delicate lights turn on and everything comes alive. It's really brilliant... one of those scenes that makes you think the world is really a wonderful place. This was right in the peak of the cherry blossom season. The soft pink of the blossoms grabs and reflects the light into an unbelievable prism. It's all like something out of a dream, and I've done my best to bring it back to life here and on the blog. Read more, including some exciting info on the upcoming Burning Man photowalk here at the entry at stuckincustoms.com

Higashi Chayagai, across the Asano River. Kanazawa's most famous geisha district. Kanazawa - Japan © www.chiarasalvadori.com

Fukuteru, a geiko of the Miyagawa district, dressed as Tomoe Gozen (1180). The wife of General Kiso Yoshinaka, she fought courageously alongside her husband in battle, clad in men's armor. Learn more about Tomoe Gozen here Jidai Matsuri, Kyoto`s Festival of Ages, started as a way to revitalize Kyoto after Japan's capitol moved to Tokyo. It has now grown to include about 3 thousand participants (Kyoto residents, including Maiko and Geiko) dressed in authentic period costumes from throughout Japan`s history valued at over $25 million.

Kanazawa - Japan. Higashi-Chayamachi, across the Asano River. Kanazawa's most famous geisha district. ©(2013)ChiaraSalvadori | www.chiarasalvadori.com |

oil on paper, 76x56 cm The Hazmat suit is not only the armour of anonymous worker-samurai, it is also their shroud and coffin. They die in there - from pride, over zealous sense of duty, macho determination, inadequate training & supervision, insufficient back-up and, stingy allocation of funds to do the job at hand. They die from weary old hearts working on a heart-breaking task in a heart-broken district of Japan. The ghosts of Fukushima are released. They already haunt the land. read the background to this work at tachisme.blogspot.com/2011/05/fukushima-ghosts.html

A Japanese couple are photographed in traditional costume, beneath a Japanese umbrella, in the 'old samurai district' of Kanazawa - Japan.

Fresh Water

Die höhergestellten Samurai lebten in Kanazawa in der Nähe der Burg und somit auch näher an der Quelle des kanalisierten kleinen Flusses der Frischwasser zu den Häusern der Bewohner lieferte.

Two Japanese ladies, dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos, stroll through the old samurai district of Kanazawa.