A line of Stone Lanterns (tōrō) at Yugasan Rendaiji Temple in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. The temple was opened about 1,300 years ago on a mountain with a main peak of 300 meters.
I had some consular stuff to do early yesterday morning at the German embassy in Hiroo, which gave me an opportunity to take a stroll (and some photos) in the adjacent Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park. Had left home on an empty stomach, so afterwards headed to the nearby “HauS Bake & Cafe” and tried their “Special Morning Plate” which was quite satisfying.😋
Imamiya Jinja was founded in 994 to protect Kyoto from pestilence. Most of its current buildings are rebuilds dating to the Meiji period (1868-1912). This set of film photographs was taken there around New Year’s some years ago - a flea market was held on the premises at the time.
Since today is my birthday, and tomorrow is that of my wife, a weekend getaway is in order - so we’re in Karuizawa at the moment. Burger lunch was great at “KazBond”, a fairly new restaurant, and the incredibly nice owner threw in free tiramisu and coffee upon learning about the occasion. Scenery is great too, as would be expected up in Nagano Prefecture.
A set of film photography impressions taken around this old shopping arcade in Nagano City. All shot with Mamiya 6 and 50mm f/4 lens on Kodak Portra 400 film. Developed and scanned by Yamamoto Camera in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
An evening scene outside Dōgo Onsen Honkan, the main public bathhouse at the Dogo Onsen Hot Spring in Matsuyama on the southern island of Shikoku. With a history of more than 1,000 years, this is one of Japan’s oldest hot spring resorts, where guests can be seen wandering the streets in yukata robes after their bath.
“Itago-Kometen” (板五米店) is a restaurant and café in a restored 100-year-old building on the southern edge of Nakajuku Shopping Street in Itabashi, Tokyo. Here are some impressions from a recent lunch; iPhone shots straight out of camera. (I also had an iced coffee with the dessert; not pictured in this set).
In the last part of our visit to Takao, one hour north of Kyoto, we reach Kosan-ji Temple (sometimes also written as Kozan-ji). Wrapping up our visit there, we notice that (a) buses back to Kyoto aren’t that frequent and (b) we’ve gotten quite hungry from all the climbing - so we find a local restaurant with a nice view of the Kiyotaki River, and have a bowl of noodles 🍜
In part 2 of a small photo series from Takao, located a 1-hour bus ride north of central Kyoto, we leave Jingo-ji Temple and walk to Saimyō-ji. After a short climb, we step through the main gate to reach the inner premises of the temple, where we find many stone lanterns overgrown with moss. Saimyō-ji was first constructed in the years 824-834; its current main hall dates from 1700. A very calming place.
Adding on to yesterday’s post, here are a few more photos from Takahata Fudoson Kongoji, a temple located on the western outskirts of Tokyo in Hino. In addition to a beautiful five-storied pagoda, the temple also features a pleasant hiking course through a forest, with 88 Jizō statues located along the trail.
Adding on to my previous post, here are a few more photos from yesterday evening’s walk around Takinogawa, a neighborhood in Tokyo’s Kita Ward with a very “retro” feel.
(I may need to go back one day and document the Sentō from the second photo in a bit more detail).
Kennin-ji (建仁寺) is Kyoto's oldest Zen temple, and it's a staggeringly beautiful place that is renowned for its indoor decorative paintings and its perfectly tended gardens. It also provides a haven of quietness not far from the overtourism craze that the nearby Gion district has become over the last decade.
All photos shot with Nikon D7000 and Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.
On my camera roll, I found this set of photos from Kanazawa, the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture. The city was fortunate to escape air raids during WW2, so thankfully many of its old districts are still intact with beautifully restored buildings.
Scenes from a walk around Kobe, all shot with Nikon FE-2 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 on Fuji Superia 400. I tried to achieve a dreamy mood. (Someday I’ll get proper lab scans made, these are my own scans of the prints I have, using a cheap home scanner.)
I was in the Ochanomizu area of Tokyo this evening, so I thought I’d try to capture a night view from Hijiri Bridge towards Akihabara. And as if I had ordered them, a Marunouchi Line subway train (red) and a JR Chūō-Sōbu Line train appeared as welcome foreground elements. 🚊
Matsushiro Station is a - by now - disused railway station of the Nagano Electric Railway on the former Yashiro Line, around 10km south of Nagano’s city center. When I visited less than a year before it was decommissioned, it exuded a very nostalgic and melancholic mood. I shot some details around the station, as well as an image with the station master.
“Bettenburg” is a German word that literally means “castle of beds”. It is sometimes used with a derogatory undertone to describe cheap vacation hotels - but with a more positive spin, it really just means “huge building with lots of beds in it”. So it could also refer to Japanese mansions as pictured here, that are crucial to the nighttime aesthetic of Tokyo. All shot tonight in Itabashi Ward.
Directly to the east of Kita-Kamakura Station is Engakuji (円覚寺) - one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan, originally founded at this site in 1282 (although none of the original buildings survived). A few full-size photos taken during our visit there today - the first plum blossoms were already open! 🌸
Shout-out to our local bagel shop which is just a short 10-minute bike ride from where I live. We went for a quick lunch there today; I had a “Sandwich and Drink Set” consisting of a multi-grain bagel with Teriyaki Chicken and Burdock Salad, and a Caffe Latte. Delicious, quite filling, and reasonably priced at 910¥. Also brought back some freshly-baked bagels and put them in the freezer.
Taitō (台東区, Taitō-ku) is Tokyo’s smallest ward, yet it contains a lot of history, boasting major tourist magnets such as Asakusa's Sensō-ji Temple, Ueno Park, or the Ameyoko street market. But walk on any of its side streets, and you will discover homely and surprisingly quiet neighborhoods with quirky and photogenic details.
Went to “cafe arica” in Minami-Tokiwadai (Itabashi Ward) again today, and had the Piadina lunch set, as well as a caffe latte and their famous tiramisu (not pictured). Nice quiet and cozy place to spend some time on this cool Sunday, and do some travel planning with the wife for later this year. 😎