Green Buddha and Faceless Buddha

I love how many old Buddhist statues in Japan become weathered or moss covered. It really adds to the character of the old statues.  Below are two statues, possibly Jizo Bodhisattva's, from a temple in Otawara, Tochigi-ken. My favorite is the moss covered green Jizo.

This is my entry in this weeks Show Me Japan. Please click on the photo below to see more great Japan photos at Budget Trouble.

Stoned Buddha

I love to walk around little neighborhood temples and there are several very near where I stay when visiting Otawara in Tochigi. One of the things I love about them are all the old statues around the temple grounds. Below are photos from the attached cemetery. I was very curious when I saw all the stones covering the statues. I believe these are Jizo statues because of the bibs they are wearing but I am not certain. If they are then technically they are not Buddha's but are bodhisattva's. If anyone knows the reason for the stones, let me know.

I love the stone on this little one's head.

This is my entry in this weeks Show Me Japan. Please click on the photo below to see more great Japan photos at Budget Trouble.

Rain...Rain, It's Rain Every

Funny Engrish. I think she is trying to say it's always raining. Not entirely sure. I think even Google Translate would give a better translation for the phrases on this tissue box.

Pocket Park

Below is what I call a "pocket park" because it is relatively small. This park in Otawara is where I often take my two boys when we visit Tochihi Japan. It is very close walking distance and is a great place to run around, look for bugs and generally have fun. As you can see the park has a wall with descriptions of various types of exercises people can do. I have never seen anyone exercising there though. This is the same park where we found the trash from an inconsiderate person but usually the park is very clean. There even is a restroom.

This is my entry in this weeks Show Me Japan. Please click on the photo below to see more great Japan photos at Budget Trouble.

Hey, pick up your trash

Japan is fairly well known for being a very clean country.  And overall especially in comparison to most American cities like Los Angeles , Japan is much cleaner when it comes to trash and litter and graffiti. But as many of those who have lived in Japan know, there is litter and graffiti. Below are a couple of photos from a nice little pocket park in Otawara Tochigi. I often take my boys to this little park to play but one day we found someone's lunch trash and cigarette butts on the table. Obviously an insensitive, careless and rude person. In spite of this I do feel Japan is far cleaner than where I live, Los Angeles.

This is my entry in this weeks Show Me Japan. Please visit Budget Trouble to see other great photos of Japan.