Shadowy figures dressed for winter form a ring around a bonfire on a dark January night. The fire burns brightly, illuminating faces, casting long shadows and sending a spray of sparks up into the air. Above, the sky is dark and starless. This is a dondoyaki, where the recent New Year's decorations are burned, on or around January 15.
A solitary figure visits Osaka's Shitennoji Temple on a dark winter night, pausing in the deserted courtyard. Footprints in the fresh snow reveal the figure's interrupted progress; the bamboo umbrella the figure holds hides their head. Beyond, the nearby temple buildings are deserted and closed up, while further on, taller buildings and the five-story pagoda are shadowy, details obscured by the dim light. Snow falls across the scene.
A snowy evening at a temple in Japan. A single figure passes an unlit wooden lantern as they approach a tall, red-lacquered temple building; the figure carries a bamboo umbrella as protection from the snow, as the winter wind whips their robes about them. Snow covers the ground all around, and sticks to the bark and bare branches of a tall tree on our left. More snow covers the roof and railings of the temple. The sky above is dark and overcast.
Heavy snow falls at Kyoto's Kinkakuji Temple. The temple building and the nearby trees are covered in a layer of fresh snow; the surface of the pond before the temple is still. Tall, snow-covered trees crowd the view beyond the water. Overhead, the sky is overcast, and heavy snow continues to fall across the scene. This image is an aizuri-e print, rendered in shades of blue.
An autumn afternoon at a farmhouse on Mount Ontake, on the border of Nagano and Gifu. A tall tree stands in the centre of the image, its leaves a bright orange-red with the season. On our right, a path leads up and away from the traditional-style thatched-roof house; on the left, a farmer approaches the front door of the house, carrying what looks like daikon in a woven basket on their back, and a branch of persimmons in their right hand. A trio of white chickens waits on the doorstep of the farmhouse.
A bright autumn afternoon in Tochigi Prefecture. In the foreground, a watermill stands at the edge of a stone-reinforced embankment bordering a stream. At the end of a narrow stone walkway extending into the water, a female figure crouches low, washing something in a bucket. Just beyond, leaves of tall trees are turning yellow and orange with the season; further on, a group of houses block the horizon. Above, a few white clouds cross a blue sky.
#Mastodon: your avatar can be 400x400 and your banner, 1500x500
also #Mastodon: oh but we'll downsize the shit out of the one, and literally crop the fuck out of the other because we show it at a ratio greater than 4:1 even tho 1500x500 is 3:1
thirdly, #Mastodon: also no you can't see how your profile will look before you hit 'save', sorry.
Current (2025.10) avatar/banner could use a pinned description, they're no longer pictures of/by myself.
Avatar is of a #Gentoo#penguin (but "btw I use #Arch" as the kids say, even tho I did use a lot of Gentoo Linux back in the day) from a #shinhanga print by Toshi Yoshida. (the full image, which is real nice, can be found along with his other works at https://ukiyo-e.org/artist/yoshida-toshi)
A clear autumn day, looking toward a snow-capped Mount Fuji. In the foreground, a slow-moving river flows past; on the opposite bank, a high wall conceals all but the upper floor of a traditional thatched-roof house. Nearby, trees and grasses are golden yellow with the turning season. Further on, Mount Fuji dominates the view, its snowy peak reflected in the river below.
An early morning view looking over Lake Kawaguchi, toward a snow-capped Mount Fuji beyond. In the foreground, a pair of wiry pine trees screen our view of the calm lake; on the far side of the water, Mount Fuji rises from a skirt of mist and a few puffy clouds, its eastern-facing flank tinted rose with the dawn.
A trio of swans swim in the moat at Tokyo's Imperial Palace. The surface of the water reflects the birds; just behind them, irregular interlocking stones make up the wall of the castle moat.
A light rain falls on a spring day in Ueno Park. A pair of visitors to the park carry bamboo umbrellas as they walk beneath cherry trees in full bloom. To their left, a row of stone lanterns lines the path, and beyond, the five-story pagoda that was once part of Kaneji Temple stands tall.
A view of Benkeibashi on a spring evening. On the far side of the bridge, cherry trees in full bloom are lit from beneath by lanterns; beaneath the bridge, the waters of the Benkeibori are calm, while the sky above is dark and starless.
Dusk at Urayasu, Chiba. Empty 'bekabune' type boats are tied up alongside a canal; a row of houses stands overlooking them, snow melting from their thatched roofs. Above, a pair of birds wheel in a sky turned dusty purple with the onset of the evening.
A view looking toward Mount Fuji, early on a cold winter's morning. In the foreground, snow weighs down the branches of wiry pine trees; beyond, a small sailboat crosses Suruga Bay, passing a treeless little island along the way. Further north, the earliest light of dawn is giving Mount Fuji's snowy peak a warm orange glow; the cloudless sky above is beginning to lighten with the coming day.
A view of the Tonashimon (or Doorless Gate) on a moonlit night in spring. The wooden Tonashimon is flanked by a low stone wall to our right, and tall, solid-looking castle foundations to our left. Beyond the gate, a pair of figures in traditional dress, one male and one female, pause under a cherry tree in full bloom, looking up at the yellow full moon