Asukayama Park is a public park near Oji station in Kita-ku in Northern Tokyo. It is known for Cherry Blossom viewing during the beginning of Springtime with over 600 Japanese cherry trees. It’s history started during the 18th century, when, shogun Yoshimune Tokugawa (1684-1751) built the premises for Edo’s (Tokyo) population. It was one of first public parks in Tokyo. In addition, one can watch the JR Keihin-Tohoku and the Tohoku Shinkansen pass by from the pedestrian crosswalk near the South exit of the Oji Station. To access Asukuyama Park get off at either 1. Oji Station: JR Keihin-Tohoku Line or Tokyo Metro Namboku Line 2. Asukayama Station: Toden Arakawa Line 3. Oji-Ekimae Station: Toden Arakawa Line.
Turkey Vulture photograph taken on the Alviso Slough Trail at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Alviso (San Jose) August 2021.
Turkey Vultures are fairly large birds with long, broad wings. Their colors are dark brown with a featherless red head and pale bill. They are graceful but unsteady soarers and fly low to the ground and have a great sense of smell. Turkey Vultures are scavengers and can be seen at roadsides, farm fields, countryside, and landfills. They help clean the environment by eating flesh off dead animals before they decay. Researchers have noted that turkey vultures can travel 200 miles a day. Their life span is up to 24 years old and they live in Southern, Canada, North America, and South America.
Kochi Castle in Kochi on the Island of Shikoku in Japan. In the 1990’s I brought my photography students for a home stay in Kochi.
In 1588 Kochi Castle was completed by lord Chosokabe Motochika but later in 1600 lord Yamanouchi Kazutoyo took control over the castle. Kochi Prefecture was then called Tosa province back then. The castle was completed in 1611 after 10 years of construction. Much of the original fortress burned down in 1727 and it was reconstructed between 1729 and 1753 in the original style. The castle has retained its original stonework structure and is not a replica like other castles in Japan. It is also the only castle in Japan to retain both its original main keep and its palace. Kochi Castle is located in the city of Kochi on the island of Shikoku in Japan.
King Crab at the Hakodate Morning Market in Hakodate Hokkaido early 2000’s
The history of the Hakodate Morning Market started in postwar years when food was scarce and farmers from the countryside began to sell vegetables in the city. An illegal black market started outside Hakodate Station near the ferry dock, and fishmongers and rice peddlers went back and forth between Hokkaido and Aomori. Afterward the market became the “kitchen” of the city, selling foodstuffs like rice to items like melons and crab. The market sells vegetables picked fresh that morning, laid right on the ground for sale. The market boasts around 250 stalls as well as “donburi lane,” where visitors pile bowls of rice high with fresh seafood called “seafood rice bowl.”
Song Sparrow on the Mallard Slough Trail at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Alviso (San Jose)
The Song Sparrow is a very common sparrow in North America and are seen in people’s backyards. Their colors are often russet-and-gray with bold streaks down its white chest but in California they have a more darker tone. The Song Sparrow’s length is from 5.8 to 7.5 inches. You can see the bird living in fields or near water. They eat mostly insects or seeds and forage on the ground. One of the oldest known Song Sparrow was 11 years old.
Ouchi-juku大内宿 is a historical town in Fukushima Prefecture that have preserved structures with traditional thatched roof buildings that are over 300 years old.
Mural painting of Charlene Nijmeh Tribal Chairwoman President of Muwekma Ohlone Tribe
Creation Hymn
In the beginning of the world
all men had knowledge cheerfully
all had leisure
all thoughts were pleasant
at that time all creature were friends
wide river rushing
wide to the hills
everywhere spreading
waters devouring
men and all creatures on the flood of the waters
when the daughters of the spirit came to
help
all then joined together
all saying
Come help
in other years all traveled
over the waters of the hard stony sea
all were peaceful long ago
large and long was the east land
rich and good
shall we be free and happy then
at the new land?
We want rest in peace and wisdom
Adapted by E.G. Squier, ‘… translation of the Walum–Olum, or Bark Record of the Lenni
Lenape’, first printed in The American Whig Review, 1849
Photographs of the Muwekma Ohlone Mural from start to end
The Ohlone mural is a tribute to the proud culture and history of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. It was painted by Alfonso Salazar, a Native Indian, born in San Jose. The mural is sponsored by Pow Wow San Jose and the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy in San Jose as part of the Artist in Residence program.
The Naticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation mostly live in Delaware Bay but also in New Jersey, northern Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, and southeastern New York
