Court of the Southern Snake Prince

I am Gojoteki, Lord of the South. I am not a warmonger, but a man of peace. There are those who think me weak for this, but they are wrong. I fight only for my people.

[sixpenceee]

A picture of a Japanese paradise flycatcher feeding it’s baby. (Source)

[wytchinghour]

MY HEART

[art-of-swords-deactivated201705]

Tachi Sword

Dated: 17th century

Culture: Japanese

Measurements: overall length 101 cm

The sword was designed and made for wear at the Imperial Court. It features a gilt scabbard with brass mounts, finely engraved and carved with racemes, tsuka with fish-skin covering, ending in a big hilt depicting an in-the-round bird. The streaked, gilt, lacquered saya has with brass mounts decorated en suite, complete with painted loops.

Source: Copyright © 2016 Czerny’s International Auction House S.R.L.

[sumi-no-neko]

葛飾 北斎  Katsushika Hokusai (1760 - 1849) Bullfinch and Weeping Cherry (Uso, shidarezakura), 1834

[archive-of-masks]

Antique Japanese Fox (Kitsune) Mask

(via Rare! Antique Japanese Kyogen Fox Mask (item #1181260, detailed views))

[japaneseaesthetics]

Fittings for a Pair of Swords (Daishō Soroi-Mono).  Inscribed by Masayoshi (Japanese, born 1784). early 19th century, Japan. Copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, silver, copper-silver alloy (shibuichi), copper. One of Masayoshi’s masterpieces, this is a rare complete set of fittings for a daishō with his signature. It features a design of rabbits.  Rogers Fund, 1948.  MET

[sessav-deactivated20190416]

My corn snake a Snow het. Lavender

A little aggressive thing. :D 

[japaneseaesthetics]

Standing Courtesan.  Kaigetsudō Ando (Japanese, ca. 1671–1743), Japan. Hanging scroll, mounted as panel; ink and color on paper.  A courtesan, statuesque and regal in pose, has paused her procession to glance back, perhaps to acknowledge an admirer. Kaigetsudō Ando was the founder of a studio of artists that produced woodblock prints and paintings of the high-ranking women of the demimonde. Here a poem card (shikishi) is inscribed with a poem attributed to Sarumaru Dayu (active late 8th century) that was made famous through its inclusion in One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets (Hyakunin isshu):  Oku yama ni  momiji fumi-wake  naku shika no  koe kiku toki zo  aki wa kanashiki  Deep in the mountains, traipsing through leaves, a deer cries for its mate— when I hear that sound, it’s autumn at its saddest. —Trans. John T. Carpenter

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015.  MET

[sciencealert]

The first audio recordings from the bottom of the Mariana Trench are creepy as hell

What is going on down there?

Scientists have released the first audio recordings taken from the deepest point on Earth’s surface, Challenger Deep, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Filled with strange moans, low rumbles, and the occasional high-pitched screech, the soundbites below shed rare light on the dark world that lies 10.9 km (6.7 miles) below the crushing weight of the Pacific Ocean… and they’re somehow both haunting and beautiful at the same time.

On the whole, we know very little about what goes on inside the Mariana Trench, located at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean around 322 km (200 miles) southwest of Guam, mostly because it’s so difficult for us to get to.

[tha--snazzle]

when we finally manage to wipe out 90% of life on the surface of our earth, it’s reassuring to remember that the great dark gods of the Trench will rise and repopulate with their minions

[allacharade]

What a time to be alive though. We live at the convergence of all these technologies such that we can both drop a microphone down to the deepest point on earth and just casually share those sounds on a free to post free to share audio hosting site online and instantly have it heard by random bored people all over the world who have no real understanding of any of the more technical aspects of what it is they are listening too, but can still appreciated it, say “woah” and share it with all their friends, and then make some 100 year old literary reference to go with it. What a time to be alive.

[artemisdreaming]

Inro silhouette design, Japan

Inro Koma Yasumasa Japan Late 18th - 19th century Wood, black and gold togiadashie lacquer Museum no. W.159-1922   vam.ac.uk

Inro showing performing figures seen through a shoji (paper sliding door).

                      Detail

                                               Artemis:  I love this and posted it about six months ago. This post has additional photos.   

[jedhenry]

Origami Mage.

[arelativenewcomer]

Within the tide-space All along the beaches Do I seek, yet No, it does Avail me not (Izumi Shikibu, Japanese poet of the mid-Heian period)

The sea will always draw you towards it with its incessant murmur. It’s not because of its vastness that whatever you seek, you’ll seek in vain. It’s because nothing can be found once and for ever. Sometimes only the light is shimmering like pure silver and the water is outrageously blue.

Quenching the longing for the sea with (top to bottom, left to right): Koho Shoda, A Woman Sauntering on a Beach by Moonlight, no date [source]; Kawase Hasui, Isohama (Ibaraki Prefecture), 1949 [source]; Kawase Hasui, Spring Moon at Ninomiya Beach, 1932 [source]; Kawase Hasui, Moonlight at Shichiri-ga-hama, Sagami Province, 1930 [source]; Tsuchiya Koitsu, Suma Beach, 1938 [source]; Utagawa Hiroshige, Minosaki Beach, Bungo Province, 1856 [source]; Utagawa Hiroshige, Samezu Beach in South Shinagawa, 1857 [source]; unknown, Island under Full Moon, 1930s [source]. 

[kikikimono]

After Washing Her Hair by Ito Shinsui 

[japaneseaesthetics]

After Washing Her Hair by Ito Shinsui .1936, Japan

[jedhenry]

Another origami magic sketch. 

[the-cinder-fields]

Artist: Yoshitaka Amano

[stinkfight-deactivated20190822]

the king of tossing shade

[phantom-moon]

Is anyone else having issues using the ask system? Tumblr’s refusing to let me, and instead it gives me a dialogue telling me to use the messaging system instead. Does tumblr not know how prolific ask memes are!?

[monochromaticblack]

“be stubborn about your goals but flexible about your methods.” the best advice I’ve ever received.