A few days ago I posted a small walk through Iga Hachimangu Shrine and in it I mentioned most of the lotus blossoms visible in a few of the photos weren't quite ready yet. You can find that post here if you are interested.

They are now in full bloom! I stopped by again and got a few new shots. Enjoy these lovely flowers.

The lotus is a special plant in the Eastern world. It's considered pure and special, due to it's ability to remain perfectly clean despite coming up in a murky pool. Even today when we know how it's done (if you don't know, watch this video on Youtube) it's still a little magical that the flower can do this, but back in the day it must have blown their minds.

Many Eastern figures of note often appear meditating on lotus blossoms as a result, showing that they too are special. The Buddha and Krishna or Ganesh come to mind. This connection has even entered English, as we usually call the best meditation pose, the one where the tops of the feet are placed on the thighs, lotus pose.

That's the entrance to the lotus pond, as shown in the other post. The torii gate makes a nice backdrop to them.

Here's a similar shot back a little so you can see more of what's there:

And looking the other way we get the gate to the inner shrine:

That's an impressive building that also goes well with the lotus blossoms. Hmm... then again, I think just about anything goes well with the blossoms.

Unfortunately they don't last long. They'll last a week before they start to fall apart, as you see in one of those first photos I posted. But for that week, we can really enjoy them.

They also only bloom in the morning. Around noon they will all close up for the rest of the day. Early morning this place is busiest as all the old men with cameras rush here to photo them. Many of those old dudes bring spray bottles. I guess the blossoms look better with some water on them? I don't know. Either way looks fine to me.

And now before we go, something a bit different. Here is a traditional bridge leading to the main shrine gate.

I love these traditional bridges.

Well, anyway, there you go. Hope you enjoyed!

❦

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.