Hiroko's "Kamon" (Family Crest)

Recently, one of Hiroko's aunts passed away. They cleaned up the belongings, and shared some of the important things. We received the Harada family crest, or "kamon". In Japanese it is called "Maru ni Chigai Ya" and are the feathers of arrows used in Archery. I looked up this crest on the net and found some very interesting (though not 100% accurate) info on the origin of this crest. It turns out that a samurai named Minamoto no Tametomo was the first to get this kamon, and the arrow feathers signify that he was a great archer. He was born in 1139 and committed seppuku (spilling his guts out with a short knife, then falling over on his face) in 1160. He was the youngest son (eighth son) of Minamoto no Tameyoshi in the Heian period.

Here is some information for you:

Minamoto no Tametomo (源 為朝?, 1139 – April 23, 1170) (also known as Chinzei Hachirō Tametomo (鎮西 八郎 為朝?)) was a samurai who fought in the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156 (against his brother Yoshitomo). He was the son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi, and brother to Yukiie and Yoshitomo.

In the Hōgen Rebellion, he fought to defend the Shirakawa-den, alongside his father, against the forces of Taira no Kiyomori and Minamoto no Yoshitomo, his brother. The palace was set aflame, and Tametomo was forced to flee and was banished to the island of Ōshima in the Izu Islands. In Ryūkyū, it has long been believed that he made his way down to Okinawa during his exile, and founded their kingdom by siring the first king of Chūzan, Shunten. This tale was included in Chūzan Seikan by Shō Shōken, the first history of Ryūkyū.However, historians today discount this story as a later invention by Shō Shōken.

Tametomo is known in the epic chronicles as a powerful archer and it is said that he once sunk an entire Taira ship with a single arrow by puncturing its hull below the waterline. It is also added in many legends that his left arm was about 6 in. longer than his right, enabling a longer draw of the arrow, and more powerful shots. It is also said that he was 210cm tall (which would make him a giant among men, and prone to hitting his head on absolutely everything).

In 1170, as the conflict between the Minamoto and Taira continued, Tametomo became surrounded by enemy Taira warriors on a small island. In some legends, it is said that Taira cut the tendons of Tametomo's left arm. Thinking that he wouldn't be able to fight anymore, he killed himself by slicing his abdomen, or committing seppuku. He is quite possibly the first warrior to commit seppuku in the chronicles.

His brother Yoshitomo went on to sire the very first shogun in Japan after arresting the Emperor Shirakawa-go. Here some of the English records are in conflict because the above mentions that Tametomo fought for Shirakawa-go, but in the information on his brother Yoshitomo, it says that HE fought for Shirakawa-go (and then later arrested him, and installed military rule). That's pretty cool, actually.

Anyway, here is the Harada Kamon, and below you can also see a painting of Tametomo, and Tametomo's armour, which is still in a museum in Itsukushima, Hiroshima, Japan.

This shows you that the Haradas are descendants of Minamoto Tametomo (or maybe a retainer who was awarded the kamon for fighting bravely with Tametomo, as an archer? Not sure about this, and neither are Haradas, but I perhaps I know more about their origins now than they do!)

It has been quite a while since I actually wrote a real blog, and this is kind of nice.

If the kamon doesn't show up, I'll add it again separately, as I have to do this via my computer, and not through the iPhone.

Isn't history great?

Amazing New Harajuku Starbucks!

I came for a haircut today, to Harajuku because it has been four
months and I want one more very short cut before I let it get a wee
bit longer again.

There is a new building across from the Condomania store. It used to
be a big Gap store but has been replaced by a really fashionable
concept, this past February. Today is the first day to visit as I
wanted to test out the new Lady Gaga perfume (kinda melts me).

Then I came up to the 6th floor where you cans we a bunch of trees
from below. It's a Starbucks! And what a Starbucks at that. First of
all I was surprised to see they sell a new coffee at a very expensive
price: Short at ¥610 or about $8.00! Wow! But they also use the Clover
machine which I read about in the latest Starbucks book. The system is
really simple, and acts like a reverse French press using suction to
pull the coffee down to a press filter plate after water is poured in
from the top. The description of it in the book doesn't do it justice.
It is cool! And the coffee is really good, too. See the description in
the attached photo.

Then I went outside and was stunned by this outside garden area (non
smoking) with a ton of awesome seating, steps, tables and more for
people to kick back and relax on. It is very impressive and this
concept is well worth the visit if you happen to find yourself in
Tokyo.

Very nice indeed!

Geo(Bangkok)Caching

It really is great using geocaching to sightsee. You have history (or
not) at your fingertips as you wander around seeing new things.

We didn't do any geocaching in Chiang Mai as there were none in our
area and few in the city but we had an opportunity to try out our
skills in Bangkok. And we found three of four caches wandering around.

The first one was outside a girls catholic school that was built in
1925. The fun part of the history is that there is a LTR station
right above the school and also a very high wall at that station
blocking the view of the school. The reason is because the school
fought against the transit line as they didn't want dirty minded men
looking down on the girls doing sports in the schoolyard. The school
lost (thank goodness as that transit line is a lifesaver) but in
exchange they were able to preserve the purity of the young girls with
the high wall at the train station. Other stations don't have that
wall.

The second cache is outside a monster shopping center (which is
extremely impressive!) but he purpose is to point out the Erawan
Shrine that you can see in photo four. This shrine was built to
overcome the bad karma that was created when laying the foundations
for a nearby hotel on the wrong day. Lots of problems occurred and
many workers died until the karma was "fixed" by the erection of the
shrine. Now people pray there regularly.

The third photo is a cache at the entrance to the transit station near
our hotel. And that's about it for that.

And that is our two days in Bangkok!

I love you!

Swimming Frenzy

On our way back to the station we walked into a small park because we
saw a little waterfall and thought it might be a great spot for a wee
respite from the heat (39C and tons of humidity). But when we arrived
we were totally entranced by the children splashing and swimming
around like tadpoles in the very shallow artificial river and lake. It
was wonderful to hear their high pitched voices ringing out amidst the
rocks as they tootled around on whatever imaginary adventures they
were creating in their minds.

This brief respite was a highlight of my day.

Kyu (Former) Furukawa Residence & Garden, Part 5

And last but not least, Rene and I together for the grand finale shot!
Taiko roll please!

Kyu (Former) Furukawa Residence & Garden, Part 4

Still seeking Serenity? Maybe this will help...

Kyu (Former) Furukawa Residence & Garden, Part 3

And more Serenity...

Kyu (Former) Furukawa Residence & Garden, Part 2

Continued...

Kyu (Former) Furukawa Residence & Garden, Part 1

Today Rene and I visited a fantastic garden in the 15th and Final
Installment of the Seeking Serenity Series of videos depicting great,
and serene gardens in and around Tokyo.

Here are the photos (in several posts) of the photos we took today.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed the garden!

Thanks for following the Serenity Series videos over the past three
years and a great big thank you to Sharon in the USA who first sent me
the list of gardens she thought were great. She really helped me to
get out and see the more serene side of this bustling megalopolis I
fondly call, "The Big Rice Bowl". I love you Sharon!

Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri and the Emperor!!

Rene and I rode to a Geocacher Meeting point (to give back a cache I have been holding for six months). The thing that pushed me to come out to the meeting with Rene (what does he care about meeting Tokyo Geocachers, eh?) is that there is a HUGE (as in 30,000 participants and over 500,000 spectators huge) festival that only occurs once every three years and is one of the three main Omatsuri in Tokyo. 

And we got to see the emperor and empress!!! About 70meters away. And the people! Holy .... No words. Just Wow! Talk about the most crowded experience I have ever had. It was so cool because Rene and I are very tall and we had clear views all the way! It was great. 

Here is the info on the Festival:

Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri

The Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri is held annually in mid-August by the Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine in Koto Ward, Tokyo. Tomioka Hachimangu, also known as Tomioka Yawata shrine, is Fukagawa's greatest shinto shrine, and was established in 1627. The festival, is believed to date back to 1642, and is one of the three greatest festivals of Edo, together with Sanno Matsuri of Akasaka Hie Jinja Shrine and Kanda Matsuri of Kanda Myojin Shrine.

The Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri is a wet and wild festival, and has been nicknamed the   -  mizu-kake matsuri  -   or water-throwing festival. The three-day festival will have several large portable shrines on display. The festival ends on the last day with an all-day parading of 54 portable shrines called mikoshi. The portable shrines carry a part of the main shrine's deity or kami. Every three years (1996, 1999, 2002, 2005 etc.), the full-scale version of the festival, known as Hon-matsuri, is held during five days. During this big event, there is held a large parade, where the mikoshi (portable shrine) bearers are hosed down with water throughout the six kilometer parade route, by the onlookers.

Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri is literally the festival of the Hachiman god in Fukagawa, who is the deity of warriors. The Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri festival is characterized by the traditional chant of   -  wasshoi! wasshoi!  -  , which is taken up by the mikoshi bearers as they run through the streets. The festival will have entertainment and numerous temporary stalls selling food, drinks and trinkets. There will also be several large portable shrines on display.

A large number of events take place during the Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri, such as -

Japanese drum performances;
Karate performances;
Jazz performances;
Shorinji Kempo performances;
Dance performances;
Kendo (Japanese fencing) tournaments;
Aoi Daiko drum performances; and
Indonesia, Balinese gamelan performances.

The Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri is most often held on the main avenue   -  Eitai Dori  -   (Tokyo's road leading from the Imperial Palace eastwards to Chiba prefecture). The venue of the festival is either a 3-minute walk from Monzen-nakacho Sta. on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line, a 6-minute walk from Monzen-nakacho Sta. on the Toei subway Oedo Line., or a 15-minute walk from Ecchujima Sta. on the JR Line.

the festivities of the Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri include around 30,000 participants, and attract over half a million spectators. Everyone is welcome to join the crowds, and participate in throwing water on the bearers. If you are in Japan during mid-august, do come and be a part of this celebration, and take in the essence of the Japanese fervor of celebration. 

Change is Fantastic

Everything grows, everything changes. This is the meaning of life.
That which doesn't grow or Chang has ended its life cycle and is entering the decline/death cycle.

So embrace change and be sure to step into your fear. That is where the biggest growth occurs.

And on a side note, for those of you who did not notice, Multiply is closing down this SNS or social network side of their business.

Why? Well, if you go to the Multiply blog you can read the official reason, but in a nutshell, AsiaPac is booming wit commerce on Multiply while the SNS is draining resources.

They will be providing more info soon, but they have said we can download and save our stuff if we want. For me, my stuff has run its course so I won't be Savin it, however for many other people it is important to do so. And Multiply will all us to do so if we so choose.

Time to change.

Embrace it.

Something new, something better will come along. It always does.

All you have to do is believe.

And keep an open and positive mind full of positive energy that you emit out to the Universe. It will come back magnified to you (as will any negative energy you may emit...)

It's all up to you how you see this change. Me? I see it as a great thing, another grand adventure, new change, new opportunities for growth in the IT industry, change and improvement in platforms and how we communicate with one another.

It never was about writing blogs. It was always about connecting with YOU. Each and every one of you.

I believe.

I love you!

See you wherever we meet next. Probably Facebook for now, eh?

Cam