To be admitted to Saihō-ji 西芳寺 Zen Temple in Kyoto and view its famous moss gardens you first have apply for permission months in advance. If accepted, you then pay 3000 ¥ and are required to do sutra copying. Sutra copying was something I had been eager to do when I signed up for this trip with … Continue reading Sutra Copying, Yoga and Zazen in Kyoto
I have been seeing my Japanese chiropractor for almost a year now, and the results keep amazing me!
Japan works as a society because its Buddhist principles regard every person and object of nature as worthy of reverence and part of one's own self. There is no separation. What you do to another is what you do to yourself, because you are a product of nature, and nature is a product of you. … Continue reading Conscientious Japan’s Ethos – In Pictures
Walking around Osaka these days, I am hard-pressed to see anyone wearing a kimono. Men and women alike are dressed in Western attire. Kyoto and holidays are the exception, as the amazing colorful patterns and array of fabrics of traditional kimonos fill the ancient streets and festive days then. Kimono rental is a booming business … Continue reading Kimono-Dressing 101
As a Florida Master Gardener I obsess over flowers. Our 35th floor Osaka apartment has been wonderful, but everything green I've tried to grow has inexplicably died. So I'm out and about all the time anyways hunting Japan's seasonal flower cycles, like Sakura, cherry blossoms, that passed in April. Roses and peonies are now blooming insanely … Continue reading Wandering and Wisteria Hunting in Uji, Kyoto
My Japanese keeps getting better and better, as I was able to understand a lot of what was going on during Shoryoe, the Memorial Service for Prince Shotoku at Shitenno-ji Buddhist Temple here in Osaka. Prince Shotoku built the temple in the sixth century. He was the first Buddhist statesman and was the lay founder … Continue reading Japanese Dance, Myth and Renewal During Shoryoe
Upon my first visit to Japan in November 2016 at age 50, I became a filmmaker! I had started writing a bunch of haiku and tanka poems during this powerful experience, then turned them into video poems. This Mythic Yoga Journey to Japan Haiku Video No. 1 was the first video I ever made in … Continue reading Mythic Yoga Journey To Japan Haiku Video Poem No. 1
Sakura fever has struck. The falling petals of many cherry blossoms throughout the Kansai region have forced me outside to make pilgrimages on my bike around Osaka and else where to view these breathtaking beautiful trees. They remind me of how short life is. Most cherry blossoms have now faded and dropped their petals like snow. … Continue reading Sakura Fever at the Japan Mint in Osaka is a Transcendental Event
The wonderful thing about my new life in Japan, that at 51 years of age I am reborn! I recently cut all my hair off and went white. 15 long years since my first husband died and raising my two children on my own are done! My kids turned out amazing, splendid - I'm so … Continue reading Photography & Artwork of Japan by Sydney Solis Available
“The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.” - George Orwell United States President Donald Trump is trying to start World War III. With the ultimate newspeak of “preventative war” and dangerously provoking North Korea he wants to attack it … Continue reading Japanese and U.S. Citizens Lose When Their Governments Revise War History
