An Unexpected Art Interlude

While driving along a remote mountain road in the west of Hiroshima Prefecture I was surprised to come across a fairly large, modern factory building. More surprising was that in the parking lot were about a dozen modern art sculptures, all made of metal.

None of the sculptures had labels of any kind and at first I thought maybe the factory specialised in fabricating sculptures for artists and these might be rejects.

Of course its also possible that they were just the private collection of the factory owner. I also thought maybe they were the pet project of someone at the factory.

I never did find out, but they made a great subject for some ad hoc photo studies.

More Statues at Kobo-ji Temple in Hagi

This is the second post on the many statues found in the grounds of Kobo-ji temple in Hagi. This first one looks distinctly bored.

None of the statuary was particularly outstanding, but there were a lot of them and they were quite diverse.



The previous post can be found here

Whatever was hidden behind these multiple layers of curtains has a story attached to it. "This tragic love story is similar to a verse of long epic "Everlasting Regret"by Hakukyoi who was a famous poet during Tang Dynasty. In the Genroku Era ( 1688-1704) some beloved concubine Kikuyo fell in forbidden love with some handsome page Fusanojo. Their employer got angry and banished him to an island. Before leaving her he promised her to make a faire every evening for her until he dies. Two months later its smoke had stopped. In her sorrow, she threw herself into the sea from the nearby Kikugahama Beach. Their employer felt pity and built this lovers grave for them.

The final photo is a figure I am always on the look out for,,,,, Fudo MyoO.

Aki Nada Bridge

I started my walk along the Aki Nada Islands by crossing the Akinada Bridge from near Nigata in Hiroshima over to Shimokamagari island. The bridges website claims it is the 9th longest bridge in Japan. Its total length is 1,175 meters with a central span of 750 meters. It opened in 2000.

One of the cool things about walking these big bridges is that they are so high that they afford great views, as in this photo looking back to Nigata.

Where the bridge ends on Shimokamagari is a small park, Shirozaki-en with this strange sculpture.

A rough translation of its title is [life] soil fire knowledge sky water, and it is by the artist Imai Makimasa.

There is a male and female figure.... the male being the more "muscular" one. The base of the sculpture is composed of more than 3,500 tiles...