Far away, long ago
Glowing dim as an ember
Things my heart used to know
Things it yearns to remember
Did you ever have the feeling that you remember being somewhere, but you can't pull up any more details than that? It is almost like a barely-remembered hint of a dream you think you once had. It is fading, but you can still hold on to the vaguest image, kind of like a faded photograph from long ago.
Things you can almost remember.
In truth, this photo is from an Inari shrine somewhere in Nagoya. Nagoya has so many shrines hidden between buildings, and I wasn't careful enough to mark this one on my map or note the name of it. Oh well.
Inari shrines often are easy to spot because they have multiple torii gates right next to each other and they have fox statues instead of lion-dog statues.
Inari shrines are the most popular kind of Shinto Shrine in Japan. Farmers like to pray to him/her for good rice harvest and businessmen like to pray for success in business. The most famous Inari Shrine is probably Fushimi Inari in Kyoto. I'm sure many of you have seen photos of the very long torii tunnel there—it is a very popular spot for photos.
I dressed this one up with some textures to try to match my vision of a fading memory. Do you like it?
Don't miss the other great photos in the Beautiful Japan photo series!
#1 - The Shogun's Keep
#2 - Gate to the Shogun's Shrine
#3 - The Golden Torii
#4 - Across the Universe
#5 - To Walk With You Under the Cherry Blossoms
Thank you for reading. :)
If you enjoyed this post, please like and resteem. Also be sure to follow me to see more from Japan everyday.
I post one photo everyday, as well as some misc posts such as haiku, videos, more Japanese history, and so on. Let me know if there is anything about Japan you would like to know more about or would like to see.
David LaSpina is an American photographer lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time.