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★ Up We Go

JapanDave — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:00:34 +0000

To better things! Thanks for reading! ~David LaSpina

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Up We Go

★ Would You Like Some Tea?

JapanDave — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:24:49 +0000

The long isolation of Japan from the rest of the world, so conducive to introspection, has been highly favourable to the development of Teaism. Our home and habits, costume and cuisine, porcelain, lacquer, painting—our very literature—all have been subject to its influence. No student of Japanese culture could ever ignore its presence. It has permeated the elegance of noble boudoirs, and entered the abode of the humble. Our peasants have learned to arrange flowers, our meanest labourer to offer his salutation to the rocks and waters. In our common parlance we speak of the man “with no tea” in him, when he is insusceptible to the serio-comic interests of the personal drama. Again we stigmatise the untamed aesthete who, regardless of the mundane tragedy, runs riot in the springtide of emancipated emotions, as one “with too much tea” in him.

The outsider may indeed wonder at this seeming much ado about nothing. What a tempest in a tea-cup! he will say. But when we consider how small after all the cup of human enjoyment is, how soon overflowed with tears, how easily drained to the dregs in our quenchless thirst for infinity, we shall not blame ourselves for making so much of the tea-cup. Mankind has done worse. In the worship of Bacchus, we have sacrificed too freely; and we have even transfigured the gory image of Mars. Why not consecrate ourselves to the queen of the Camelias, and revel in the warm stream of sympathy that flows from her altar? In the liquid amber within the ivory-porcelain, the initiated may touch the sweet reticence of Confucius, the piquancy of Laotse, and the ethereal aroma of Sakyamuni himself.

~Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea¹

Thanks for reading! ~David LaSpina

Written in English, amazingly, not Japanese. English was his second language but he could use it better than most native speakers! That is quite an accomplishment. ↩

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Would You Like Some Tea?

★ Buttons

JapanDave — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:19:59 +0000

Posted in Abstract iPhoneography

What do we have here…? Thanks for reading! ~David LaSpina

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Buttons

★ Red and Yellow

JapanDave — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:17:17 +0000

Posted in Autumn Leaves HDR

The highlights of autumn in Japan are undoubtably the Ginkgo leaf which turns a brilliant yellow, and the Japanese Maple leaf, which turns a rich red. Everyone has their preference. I tend to prefer the Japanese maple. But when you combine the two of them… Well, it’s hard to compete with that. What do you [...]

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Red and Yellow

★ Here Kitty Kitty Kitty

JapanDave — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:45:54 +0000

Posted in Black and White

She’s thinking some deep thoughts there. Or watching a mouse. Either one. After taking the shot, I held out my palm and tried to get closer to pet her, but she ran away. Woe is me. Thanks for reading! ~David LaSpina

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Here Kitty Kitty Kitty