Yuri Mizutani Original_2015

What is it about this twilight hour? Even the sound of a barely perceptible breeze pierces the heart. (Ono no Komachi, c. 825 – c. 900, Japanese poet of the early Heian period).

It’s no longer day but night hasn’t come yet either. One by one, the voices that fill the hours of the day with their incessant noise fade until the silence is almost complete. Some aspects of the colours stay concealed in daylight, but now comes the moment for them to appear. The evening light reduces every superfluous detail, every unnecessary shape; it is at the same time the absolute truth and the most beautiful lie.

Today let’s wander in evening landscapes (top to bottom, left to right): Evening at Ushibori, by Kawase Hasui, 1930 [source]; Evening Glow at Choshi, by Tsuchiya Koitsu, 1932 [source]; Dusk at Itako, by Kawase Hasui, 1932 [source]; Fishing Boats at Sea, by Ohara Koson, c. 1900 [source]; Evening at Minano in Chichibu, by Kawase Hasui, 1946 [source]; Evening Snow at Hashiba, by Utagawa Hiroshige II 1861 [source].

This image was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and shows a starburst galaxy named MCG+07-33-027. This galaxy lies some 300 million light-years away from us, and is currently experiencing an extraordinarily high rate of star formation — a starburst. 

Normal galaxies produce only a couple of new stars per year, but starburst galaxies can produce a hundred times more than that. As MCG+07-33-027 is seen face-on, the galaxy’s spiral arms and the bright star-forming regions within them are clearly visible and easy for astronomers to study.

In order to form newborn stars, the parent galaxy has to hold a large reservoir of gas, which is slowly depleted to spawn stars over time. For galaxies in a state of starburst, this intense period of star formation has to be triggered somehow — often this happens due to a collision with another galaxy. MCG+07-33-027, however, is special; while many galaxies are located within a large cluster of galaxies, MCG+07-33-027 is a field galaxy, which means it is rather isolated. Thus, the triggering of the starburst was most likely not due to a collision with a neighboring or passing galaxy and astronomers are still speculating about the cause. The bright object to the right of the galaxy is a foreground star in our own galaxy.

Object Names: MCG+07-33-027

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and N. Grogin (STScI)

Text credit: European Space Agency

Time And Space

As marcas do tempo Contemplam O amor.

Agosto, mês dos festivais de rua!! Adoro!

Experience The Best Japanese Summer Festivals...

Like India Japan is land of festivals(Matsuri).They have year long festivals from thanking the god for crops , celebrating sea day, giving thanks to their ancestors to appease the god’s thought to cause fire, floods and earthquakes.The whole county is found immersed with fun festival activities and events ranging from processions and traditional performances to ancient ceremonies.Few of them are-

1)Gion Matsuri-The Gion Matsuri gives the chance to see traditional Japanese performances , spectacular festival floats, girls and boys dressed in summer kimono & yukata and Japan’s finest festival food. The highlight of the festival is the dozens of huge festival floats that are pulled through the streets of Kyoto on July 17, the main festival day.

2)Tenjin Matsuri - The Tenjin Matsuri is ranked as one of Japan’s three greatest festivals including Gion Matsuri in Kyoto and Kanda Matsuri in Tokyo. The festival is held at the famous Tenmangu Shrine in Osaka and honors the god of learning.The major part of the festival includes the land procession with portable shrines ,a river procession with festival boats along the Okawa River and spectacular fireworks as night falls.

3)Kanda Matsuri- The Kanda festival is celebrated as a demonstration of prosperity with prime reason being worshipping the god of good harvest and matrimony and the god of fishermen and businessmen.The crowd goes crazy with the start of procession This procession features crowd favorites such as men on horses clad in samurai uniforms, festival floats with characters from popular folk stories and contemporary pop culture, musicians and dancers.

4)Obon Matsuri - The Bon festival, also known as Obon, is usually one of the biggest summer festivals in Japan. Although it’s not an official holiday, most people get about 3 days off during Obon season. At Obon, people honor their dead ancestors through a special type of dance (Bon Odori / Bon Dance) and also take this time to visit the resting places of their dead relatives.

So festivals are integral part of any culture of any country, but what’s so special about Japanese Festivals??

Japanese Food - You have to eat it to believe it…the mouthwatering snack stands at matsuri is people are crazy about! I bet if you can stand in those long queues of yakitori(grilled chicken in sticks) and karage (fried chicken skewed in stick with a cream dip!! Not to be forgotten  the yakisoba more like the desi chowmein all stirred with vegetables and fish(optional).The okunomiyakai sometimes called as Japanese pizza is made up of cabbage /egg/tons of veggies with the topping of green onion,mayo and sweet sauce.You cannot stop at the jagabata stand which the traditional baked potatoes without skin tossed with salt and butter, which you can add as much as your arteries can stand!

Japanese Yukata- Japanese festivals gives you the chance to see beautiful, colourful yukata, which is a causal cotton summer kimono usually worn to festivals in Japan. It is a rare chance to see so many Japanese dressed in this beautiful traditional outfit as well as a fantastic opportunity to join in on the action and dress in a yukata yourself. Yukata are available for rent easily in Tokyo.

Fireworks-  “Summer”: The season of fireworks also called as  Hanabi has a long history in Japan.Japanese fireworks events (Hanabi) have an electric atmosphere & people dress in tradition yukata and lay mats in the grass for party with friends and family.People go to the firework locations 1-2 hours beforehand to reserve the best viewing location.With the fireworks starting the hooting becomes crazy with people shouting kirei and sugoi(beautiful/splendid) with beer cans and recording cameras in hand!!

The feel and rush of excitement of Japanese Festivals is something cannot be described in words…you have to be here to feel it!!

Interested in knowing more? Contact us right away: http://ghumojapan.com/

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