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Maya Rushing Walker

@mayarushingwalker

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Day two of umeboshi drying 2026. I’ve never had such huge umeboshi before! It’ll be interesting to taste the result. But not for another 4-6 months or so! I’ll be able to taste this summer day next winter…
#ume #umeboshi #summer #summervibes #japanesefood by @mayarushingwalker

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3 months ago

Right on the heels of umeshu season, umeboshi season! All I did today was pack the ripe yellow plums with salt. I’ll have to watch them for a month or so before bringing them out to dry in the sun. After that you need to let them be for a few months before they’re mellow enough to eat. So good!
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#umeboshi #梅干し #plums #japanesefood #日本食 by @mayarushingwalker

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5 months ago

Ōtoyo Shrine, next to Kyoto’s Philosopher’s Path. Founded in 887. I’m always in search of pre-Tokugawa history, so I loved this one. Lots of guardian animals!

#大豊神社 #京都 #京都観光 #kyoto #japantravel taken in 大豊神社 by @mayarushingwalker

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5 months ago

March 2025.

#sakura #kyoto #spring #japantravel #cherryblossoms by @mayarushingwalker

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5 months ago

I have so many Japan photos that have not seen the light of day! What a shame, I don’t want to forget all the gorgeous places I’ve visited. This is Ginkakuji in Kyoto, the Silver Pavilion, built in 1482. taken in Ginkaku-ji by @mayarushingwalker

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5 months ago

Spring means umeshu. If you’ve ever been served this plum wine as an aperitif in Japan, you know what a treat it is.

#umeshu #ume #spring #japanesefood #japanesespring by @mayarushingwalker

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5 months ago

I visited Tōdaiji in Nara last fall and went again in the spring. It took two visits for me to realize that Tōdaiji is not a single temple, but a complex, and far more than just the giant Buddha in the main hall. My husband and son climbed up the mountain in back of the complex to look at an ancient burial mound, while I walked up a walled path of cobblestones to Nigatsudō and Sangatsudō, plus a few other smaller temples.
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I subsequently read in my research that a furious Taira no Kiyomori burned Tōdaiji down because monks at various temples were choosing to side with the Minamoto clan in 1181. The Hokkedō building survived, and dates to the 8th century. The others were reconstructed at various points in time. The dancing guardian figures at the main gate were constructed in the 1100s. by @mayarushingwalker

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a year ago

I blindly went along on a mountain temple visit in Kyoto to humor the hikers in my group. As I got off the cute little tram at the final stop, this tengu statue greeted me—I hadn’t realized that Mount Kurama is the place where these mythical creatures trained the famous warrior Yoshitsune when he was a child. So I was actually right where I am happiest, soaking up the physical atmosphere of the stories I love. My knees weren’t too happy, though! It really is a mountain!
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#japan #japantravel #japanese #japanesehistory #minamoto #genji #kurama #tengu #authorgram #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram #writergram #historicalfiction #kyoto #義経 #源氏 #鞍馬 #鞍馬寺 #京都 #日本史 #日本観光 by @mayarushingwalker

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a year ago

Fox statues at Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine in Kyoto, messengers of Inari, the god of rice. Magical animals? Yes, please! Don’t we all talk to our animals? Don’t we all imagine that they have their own complex networks and ways of communicating? I assume that there are things in the world that I don’t know and don’t understand. The thought of foxes zipping around on errands for the rice god sounds very possible to me.
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#japan #japanese #japaneseculture #japantravel #shinto #fushimiinaritaisha #kyoto #foxes #authorgram #authorsofinstagram #writergram #writersofinstagram #京都　#伏見稲荷大社 #お稲荷さん #日本観光 by @mayarushingwalker

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a year ago

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a year ago

Shogun Yoriie’s mother Masako built this hall to house a collection of valuable Buddhist texts that she imported from China in order to memorialize him. Named the Shigetsuden, it would have been erected shortly after his death in 1204.
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#japan #japantravel #japanesehistory #authorgram #writergram #authorsofinstagram #writersofinstagram #historicalfiction #shuzenji #shizuoka #静岡　#静岡観光　#日本史　#源 #源氏　#北条 #北条政子 #修善寺 #指月殿 by @mayarushingwalker

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a year ago

by @mayarushingwalker

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a year ago