Although the sky is grey in this picture, it was a cloudless day when I took it on Saturday. The haze is from “Kosa,” pale yellowish sand/dirt that sometimes blows across the Japan Sea from the Gobi Desert in China. I’d never seen it anywhere near this thick. I was able to look directly at the sun at 4 p.m. It looked like a white moon behind the clouds of sand.
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Ayme Frye says:
Apr 11, 2006
Beautiful photograph. I was there that day too, I did not realize that the haze was coming from China. That is so cool. Happy Hanami!
Jeffrey Friedl says:
Apr 12, 2006
I’m not sure many people will understand the location — perhaps if you said “across from Starbucks” more people would understand :-)
That kosa stuff was the weirdest thing. I’d never heard of it before, and wondered what the heck it was. It looked just like haze, but the humidity was extremely low/dry. It didn’t smell (not smoke nor smog). Not knowing what it was made it decidingly eerie. It did make areas with fields of white cherry blossoms all the more pretty, as it lended a feeling of a newfallen snow. But, it made them harder to photograph (sakura are more photogenic with a bit of strong shadow).
What time of day did you take the picture? At about 2pm, I was sitting across the street with Fumie having a cup of coffee while Anthony talked with mame-chan (the bird of the shop next door).
nils says:
Apr 12, 2006
Jeffrey, It was about 5:30 p.m. when I was there. I was in Nara earlier in the day and didn’t start taking pictures until 5. I think I know Mame-chan’s full repertoire. Here’s a lo-quality video from 2003.