Vieilles photographies du Japon

Kinosaki 1920s • Kinosaki The hot spring town of Kinosaki Onsen in northern Hyogo Prefecture has a history that reaches back many centuries. According to local legend a hot spring sprang forth in 717 A.D. after the priest Dochi-Shonin prayed here for one thousand consecutive days. The buddhist temple Onsenji was built to honor the priest and on April 23rd and 24th a festival is still held to commemorate his miraculous action.

Histoire, scènes de vie du début du XXe siècle et belles photographies sont présentées sur le blog en anglais Old Photos of Japan. Pour encore plus réfléchir sur l'étonnante transformation de ce pays. Une réflexion qui me titille avec la lecture que je suis en train de faire du livre d'Alex Kerr, Lost Japan:

«I recently gave a talk to the junior Chamber of Commerce in the town of Kameoka, where I live. When I remarked that looking out from the highway one could easily count over sixty giant utility pylons towering over the surrounding mountains, my audience was shoked. Not one of them had ever noticed these pylons.
However, I do not believe that Japanese have completely lost the delicate sensibility of the Heian Era. Somewhere, deep in their hearts, they know Japan is becoming an ugly country.»

Tout est loin d'être moche, mais c'est un autre pays que les étrangers qui viennent maintenant, découvrent ici... Tout comme les Japonais eux-mêmes d'ailleurs.