Showing posts with label sunset. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sunset. Show all posts

9/18/2026

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

With the low, gentle sound of waves, the bright sun is quietly sinking beyond the far horizon, while coloring the sky into deeper crimson. The sun seems to secretly unveil the way to the distant island of "Nirai Kanai," which is the promised land across the ocean believed in by the folk belief of the Ryukyu and Amami Islands. 

Dark purple wisps of clouds are drifting slowly across the sky to herald the imminent arrival of quiet twilight and the end of a day.

On the shore where the small waves continue lapping calmly, the clusters of massive Ryukyu marine limestone formations, which have been immemorially shaped by the vast history of the ocean, are quietly bathed in the pale sunlight. They are casting rugged dark silhouettes that remind me of the profound stone arrangements of the Zen gardens.



Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

Ryukyu limestone is a porous natural stone (sedimentary rock) widely distributed throughout the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa and Amami Islands). It was formed over hundreds of thousands of years as the remains of dead organisms (such as coral fragments, foraminifera fossils, shell fragments, calcareous algae, and so on) coalesced and accumulated amid ocean currents and eventually rose to form islands. 

Over an immeasurably long period of time, various marine forces—such as decomposition and weathering caused by seawater, rainwater, winds, waves, sunlight and so forth—have sculpted these rocks into complex and mysterious shapes.

It contains countless microscopic pores that absorb and release the ocean’s atmosphere and harbor innumerable microorganisms. It can be described as “the living rock that continues to breathe.” 

Due to its high water absorption and porosity, moss growth and darkening or destruction caused by weathering occur, giving rise to its rough surfaces and divine, strange shapes.


Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

In the mythology of the Ryukyu Islands, massive boulders and cliffs formed from Ryukyu limestone have been revered by the people of these islands as “places where the gods dwell,” and have served as central features of Utaki (sacred sites) and places of worship. 

The mysterious vitality emanating from the marine limestones—shaped by the timeless forces of the vast southern sea—has given rise to the history of faith and worship concerning the Nirai Kanai paradise located deep in the sea.


Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

 

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

 

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

 

Sunset glow at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

Sunset at Nirai beach: Okinawa main island

 

8/13/2014

Sunset glow: Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia




The ever-scorching sun is slowly sinking into the equatorial sea, blazing the far horizon and the open sky brilliantly.

People are gathering together at the evening beach, where the harsh heat of the burning sun has eased up a bit, to enjoy the precious coolness of the seashore just before sundown.

Along the sand beach washed by the gentle golden waves, the boys wheeling their bicycles are passing away like a blast of sea wind in the fleeting sunset glow.



7/31/2014

After sunset: Kaanapali beach, Maui island, Hawaii




In the pale gold sunlight still remaining in the sky after the sunset, the kayakers are returning home hurriedly on the smooth sea.

The deep shadow of night is descending gradually to let us know the end of one summer day.


7/28/2014

Sunset: Waikiki, Oahu island, Hawaii




Soon the night will begin. In the gentle glow of evening twilight, a girl and her father are walking slowly in the shallow water as if to try to refuse the ending of their pleasant summer day at the seaside.



Sunset at Kaanapali-beach: Hawaii, Maui island