August 20, Wednesday. Nijo castle. Assembly opening. Maiko. |
| b34. Nijo castle, Shogun palace. The main building. Comparing to temples and shrines, royal architecture looks modest. |
| b35. Near the large bell. On the right is Elena Benevolenskaya from St. Peterburg. |
| b36. Standing in the garden of Nijo castle. |
| c01. Irina is sitting on warm wooden platform. Note that walls made of paper. |
| c02. Castle garden. Typical Japanese combination: pond, rocks, trees, moss. |
| c03. In the garden. |
| c04. Fence made of bamboo. |
| c05. Trying to decide whether to walk upstairs to the tower or not. The sun is quickly becoming hot. |
| c06. View from the tower. You can see broad moat. |
| c07. A view from the tower to castle garden. |
| c08. In the castle garden. |
| c09. Gate. Note the small bamboo clamp in the foreground. |
| c10. Japanese know how to make beautiful gardens. Really. |
| c11. Broad lawn. In the garden. |
| c12. Maiko dance (Assembly opening). |
| c13. Maiko dance (Assembly opening). |
| c14. Maiko dance (Assembly opening). |
| c15. Maiko dance (Assembly opening). |
| c16. Maiko dance (Assembly opening). |
| c17. Maiko dance (Assembly opening). |
| c18. In the maiko company. Look at their faces covered with thick layer of lime. |
| c19. Elena Gavryuseva. |
| c20. This shot is slightly better than previous. |
| c21. Alas, Irina isn't in the focus. |