Academic-related, Photography

The Osutaka Pilgrimage – Irei-no-Sono (Photo in “Japan: The Basics” (2nd Edition))

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Japan: The Basics contains many photographs (all taken by me) to help with the discussions in the book. I have previously done individual posts on each of the photos that were in the first edition that are not in the second edition (a list of all the photographs in the first edition can be found here). I am now doing posts on all of the photos that appear in the second edition of Japan: The Basics using the tag Photo in Japan: The Basics 2 (all of the photographs can be found here). I’ve already done posts on all the photos that appear in both editions of the book. This is the next, and last, post in the next series – those where there was an equivalent picture in the first edition, but which has been updated for the second edition. Just as I started this series with a picture relating to what I call ‘The Osutaka Pilgrimage’ in relation to the Flight JL123 crash, so I am ending it with one that is part of this pilgrimage.

The first element of the pilgrimage is the toronagashi, which takes place in central Ueno-mura. The second part of the pilgrimage is going to the crash site itself – see The Osutaka Pilgrimage – Osutaka-no-One (Photo in “Japan: The Basics” (2nd Edition)) and The Osutaka Pilgrimage – Personal Memorials (Photo in “Japan: The Basics” (2nd Edition)). The final element is going to Irei-no-Sono in central Ueno-mura as is shown in the photograph here. I had a similar photograph within a collection of photos in Figure 5.1 in the first edition of Japan: The Basics, as you can see in the post Remembering the JL123 Crash on the 38th Anniversary. For the second edition, I have updated the photo to the one here and it is Figure 5.2(d).

Two large triangular towers that look like two hands almost touching each other stand in front of a hill which has been partly covered with stone. To the left is a small building.

One of the reasons to change the photo of Irei-no-Sono for the second edition of Japan: The Basics was to include the building on the left-hand side of the photo. This building was radically altered in time for the 30th anniversary of the crash in 2015. The reasons how and why this modification to the building, which is effectively a museum about the crash, happened became the focus of an article that I had published in 2019 – see Developing a Model to Explain Modifications to Public Transportation Accident Memorials.

It was fitting that I am writing this post on 25 April (2024), as this is the anniversary of the Fukuchiyama Line Derailment. This accident is one of many that are also remembered during the Osutaka Pilgrimage. For more information about this accident and its memorialisation see The Fukuchiyama Line Derailment Memorial and Revisiting The Fukuchiyama Line Derailment Memorial. Additionally, tomorrow is the anniversary of the The China Airlines Flight CI140 accident, which is also memorialised during the Osutaka Pilgrimage.

You can see more about when I took the photo in a Highlight on Instagram.

See also some other posts related to JL123

2 Comments Add yours

  1. Pingback: My Research about the Flight JL123 Crash – Christopher P. Hood
  2. Pingback: Remembering the JL123 Crash on the 38th Anniversary – Christopher P. Hood

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