When you visit Negoro-ji, the 82th Temple of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, you will be welcomed by a very unfriendly looking creature: the Ushi-Oni! This “cow-demon” is one of the mythical creatures of Japan. If you want to know more about this particular Ushi-Oni, may I advise you […]
Traditional Culture
170 posts
Today, we’re leaving the Setouchi area a little bit. We’re even leaving Kagawa Prefecture to head to its neighbor in the South East of Shikoku, namely Tokushima Prefecture. More precisely, we’re going to the city of Naruto where our destination of the day is. I’m talking about Ryozen-ji, Shikoku Pilgrimage’s […]
Last week, Douglas Brooks, who is currently in Kagawa, was invited to Shodoshima for something very special and fascinating. He invited my friend Cathy and I to tag along. So we took the ferry to Kusakabe on this cold morning of late January, and from there headed to the village […]
You may or may not know that Takamatsu is, by far, the largest producer of pine bonsai in Japan – with more of 80% of these bonsai produced in the city. And while I don’t have any hard data, I’m sure that places the city high on the list of […]
Sunday was the last day of the Setouchi Triennale 2016, and of course, like a lot of days this year, it started with Meon approaching Takamatsu Sunport. The destination was Ogijima. Where else? The first hour on the island was mostly spent having early lunch and chatting with […]
Just a quick note if you’re currently visiting the Setouchi Triennale 2016 and are planning on going to Teshima tomorrow (or don’t know where you’ll be going yet), or simply if you live in Kagawa and have no plans for tomorrow. Know that the Karato Matsuri will take place […]
I already mentioned Feel Feel Bonsai on this blog. As a reminder, it’s a project and installation located on Megijima and – as you have figured – it’s about bonsai. It’s interesting in many ways, including the fact that it gives a contemporary twist to a very old art, that it associate bonsai […]
Are you preparing your pilgrimage in Japan? Of course I’m talking about the Shikoku Pilgrimage, also known as the Shikoku Henro, Shikoku Junrei and a few others. Sure, there are more pilgrimages all over the country, but this is the one foreigners are usually aware of. Also, it happens to be […]
Located in Zentsu-ji, the 75th and main temple of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, this pagoda is the very first one I’ve seen in my life. So, even though I’ve seen bigger, larger, older and more impressive ones since, it has a special importance to me.