day 313 - bamboo. Just a pole...

Just a pole. So many possibilities...

Around here you'll find a bamboo pole in many back sheds supporting the drying annual crop of onions.

"We Didn't Start the Fire."

The hostess at our stay in a Gassho Zukuri ('praying hands' grass house) in Ainokura Valley gets the evening fire going in the irori (traditional fireplace.)

Punting pole.

Canal, Kurashiki.

Drying racks for kelp.

San-in coast.

These streamers-on-poles are called haraigushi. The streamers or shide are the same zigzag paper streamers you see on Shinto shrines. When attached to the stick (kushi), they become rallying 'flags' for religious festivals and even prods to protect mikoshi (portable shrines) in yatai fighting festivals.

The guy on the pole both propels the boat and protects it from rocks on the Hozugawa (Hozu River.)

day 289 - Okayama

Born of a sexy peach, Momotaro, (who later in his amazing travels defeated a three-eyed oni with the help of his loyal buddies Monkey, Dog and Pheasant) is commemorated widely in Okayama. On the day we were there Momotaro also had the assistance of two feral pigeons...

Korakuen Gardens, near Okayama Castle. The happy newly-weds were posing on a stone bridge, not the roof of the boatshed.

Kurashiki. With pruned willows, medieval architecture, straw hats and sampans, this scene could be lifted straight off a Willow-pattern plate...

In feudal times Kurakishi ("village warehouse") was a wealthy centre for the surrounding fertile plains where rice was barged to the granary. Later it became the base for a textile industry. Today the beautifully-preserved black-tiled whitewashed buildings are museums, galleries and souvenir shops for Japanese and foreign tourists wanting to experience a peaceful slice of Edo period history.

Kame (turtles) playing 'king of the castle'.