Awa Odori

Awa Odori
Originally uploaded by shodoboy.

Awa Odori or the dance of Awa is well worth a visit. Held every year in August in Koenji, Tokyo. It's good with a couple of ice cold Asahi beers. The best part for me is the drumming - reminds me of "Drums....drums in the deep" in the mines of Moria.
However, there is little chance of being attacked by an Orc army here.

I love the hats, the drumming and the way everyone supports the dancers. Great stuff.

Avocado Burger

Avacado Burger
Originally uploaded by shodoboy.

A good place to take a break from statues of Buddhist deities is Kichijoji on the Chuo (central line) in Tokyo.

Village Vanguard in Kichijoji serves a terrific Avocado Burger (pictured here) although I'm not sure the picture does it justice. It's just the perfect size and what freaks me out is that the avocado seems the same shape and size every time I eat one of these.

Are they cloning Avocados?

Check them out for 980 yen.

Dad with Jizo

Dad with Jizo
Originally uploaded by shodoboy.

Dad with the Jizo!!

He has a Canon digital camera and spends his time taking photographs for a racing car team back in England.

If you find yourself in Taunton, Somerset and are interested in good beers and cars, look Dad up in the Queen's Arms Public House, Pitminster, just outside Taunton.

Red Head

Red Head
Originally uploaded by shodoboy.

One of my favourite places to stay in Japan is Niko. I recently took my Dad there.There is a fantastic forest path lined with Jizo (Buddhist deities) carved out of stone like this one here. I think the red cap has something to do with protecting stillborn children.

Dad loved the spot and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Niko.

Michelle Sam and I

MarcSam&me
Originally uploaded by shodoboy.

My brother's girlfriend, Michelle, who is from Singapore visited me (on the right) in Japan a few weeks ago. The guy on the left is one of my best friends in Japan. We share the same birthday, arrived in Japan on the same flight on the same day and shared the same house for a couple of years. No, we are not related!

We are drinking Martinis in a bar called D Ray in Tokyo which serves fine drinks.

By way of introduction.

I suppose with a title like mine, there will be no surprise when you hear I'm interested in people's experience of the 'Numinous'. What does that mean? (For those of you who have not come across this term) Have you ever experienced the numinous and been able to integrate it into your life? The experience of the numinous is described by the 19th C. theologist, Rudolf Otto, as "the distinctive experience of God, at once ineffably transcendent, remote, yet stirring a recognition that here is the primary source of beauty and love." (Oxford University Press) [Numinous is from Latin numen: literally a "nod of the head," as in giving a command, hence "divine power." (from the Word of the Day).] I believe this definition can be extended to our giving a nod to the divine in the presence of this special experience. It is a not uncommon experience. Some people feel it during emotional moments in their lives, weddings, births, deaths. Others feel it frequently in the presence of nature's extreme beauty -- a sunrise, a mountain, a seascape. Daoists believed that to attain Dao, you must surround yourself with the numinous (the blissful realms, the heavenly grottos). The children's book The Wind in the Willows may contain the greatest English language description of a numinous experience - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It is a long passage but explained beautifully by Van Morrison in his song, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn: The coolness of the riverbank, and the whispering of the reeds Daybreak is not so very far away Enchanted and spellbound, in the silence they lingered And rowed the boat as the light grew steadily strong And the birds were silent, as they listened for the heavenly music And the river played the song The wind in the willows and the piper at the gates of dawn The wind in the willows and the piper at the gates of dawn The song dream happened and the cloven hoofed piper Played in that holy ground where they felt the awe and wonder And they all were unafraid of the great god Pan And the wind in the willows and the piper at the gates of dawn The wind in the willows and the piper at the gates of dawn When the vision vanished they heard a choir of birds singing In the heavenly silence between the trance and the reeds And they stood upon the lawn and listened to the silence .... I think that about covers it. Please send experiences or comments.