Alas, we are finally winding down the coverage from my trip to Japan in January. Crazy that it took almost an entire month just to show you guys all the stuff we did in just ten days time. After the craziness of our adventures with the Kanjozoku, we decided to just take a deep breath and relax for a bit. When I say “relax”, I mean, let’s get away from car shit for the day and do some regular site seeing in a different part of Japan that we’d never been to…
I know this site is predominantly car stuff but one of the great things about creating The Chronicles is the friendships that I’ve developed all over the world because of it. Since we were in Osaka, we can always rely on the Tactical Art guys to take us around and show us a good time. These guys are nice enough to even take the day off from work for the day to show us around. When we are in Tokyo, we pretty much take the train everywhere but when we are in Osaka, our friends are generous and drive us around. I think I’d seen everything I needed to see during my trip car-wise so it was cool to see something different. Honestly, it’d be pretty hard to top the Kanjo post anyway because it too was one of my favorite moments from my trip so I’m gonna show you something completely opposite today. If you are just here to see car stuff, then you’ll probably want to just pass on the content below. On this day, we headed over to Kyoto to look at some ancient temples and check out some scenery. Stuff like this is cool for me because it allows me to shoot something other than cars and I was actually really happy with how these photos came out. I love shooting people and other random stuff because it helps me to expand my horizons so going to Kyoto was perfect….
For those unfamiliar, Kyoto is a bit away from Osaka where we stayed. I think it was roughly about an hour away on the highway. The Tactical Art guys came by the hotel with our friend Ayako and we grabbed some snacks before heading to Kyoto. The area where we were gonna hit in Kyoto was the Kennin-ji Temple and the Kiyomizu-dera. The Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple in East Kyoto that was founded in 798. The current building structures we were visiting were created in 1633. The Kennin-ji Temple is a historic Zen Buddhist Temple and is considered to be one of the “five most important Zen temples of Kyoto”…
I know it’s not really car-related but enjoy the photos if you stick around today. This post is more for my friends and family that follow the site to see what I was up to in Japan…
If you missed any of the previous 11 parts of my epic journey, click the links below to check them out…
The Chronicles 2014 Japan Trip Coverage… Part 1: An Intro, An RWB Meet, and TAS ’14 Coverage…
The Chronicles 2014 Japan Trip Coverage… Part 2: Tokyo Auto Salon Coverage Begins…
The Chronicles 2014 Japan Trip Coverage… Part 3: Tokyo Auto Salon Coverage Continues…
The Chronicles 2014 Japan Trip Coverage… Part 4: The End of Day 1 of TAS ’14…
The Chronicles 2014 Japan Trip Coverage… Part 6: The Final Day Of Tokyo Auto Salon 2014…
The Chronicles 2014 Japan Trip Coverage… Part 9: A Visit To Spoon Sports And Type One…
The Chronicles 2014 Japan Trip Coverage… Part 11: The Legendary Osaka Kanjozokus…
….and now, we go to Kyoto for some sightseeing…
I don’t know exactly what time it was when they came and grabbed us but it was pretty early. It was overcast for most of the day so we were all prepared for the cold weather. Originally I didn’t know who was coming to us to Kyoto but Atsuki and Taku also joined us in the Toyota Alphard van…
Kyoto is actually quite “old” looking and very traditional. All the colors are very bland and nothing really stands out. It sticks to tradition and shows its age…
Once we arrived and parked, we headed over small stone pathway that lead us to the Kennin-ji Temple…
I love seeing stuff like this because it is very native to Japan and you wouldn’t see it anywhere else. One of the great things that I appreciate about being in this car community is all the opportunities it has presented me to see the world…
Our friend Ayako, as always served as our translator in Osaka. The Tactical Art guys are learning English at a pretty good pace but it always helps to have Ayako around…
It’s pretty remarkable how this area looked because you wouldn’t even be able to tell what decade it was by just glancing at this photo…
Old school Japanese mail box….
Inside the temple was some famous art pieces by Tawaraya Sōtatsu. This depicts Fujin, the god of wind, and Raijin, the god of thunder….
Love the artwork displayed throughout the temple…This is a room that I believe is for a Zen meditation practice that takes place once a month at Kennin-ji…
Though there were many people walking through the temples as tourists, it was eerily quiet as people were really respectful and didn’t say much. You kind of just need to be there to take it all in…
The seat of Yousai, the founder of the Kennin-ji temple…
It’s always fun going to these places with Taku, Atsuki, and Yasutaka because it almost seems like all this stuff is new to them too….
A couple of old hand-created figurines sitting behind a glass case within one of the rooms inside the temple…
This is a piece that was actually painted onto the ceiling of Hattou (Dhama Hall). The “Twin Dragons”, as this piece has come to be called, are the guardians of Buddhism and was created in 2002 celebrating 800 years of this temple’s opening…
Sitting below the Twin Dragons inside the Dhama Hall is this…
After we walked around the Kennin-ji temple, we headed over to a small food/shopping area before we went over to the Kiyomizu-dera….
As mentioned, Kyoto is much more rustic and dated compared to the much busier and more regularly renovated cities like Tokyo…
A host of Japanese lanterns on display…
Sticky hot Mochi balls and Matcha tea was a popular choice of food in Kyoto…
A view of the small shopping and snacking area we perused….
Ryan diving into some Mochi balls…
Some green tea Mochi skewers….
One of my favorite foods that day were these Croquettes which are breaded fried rolls that had potato in them. Kinda like a hashbrown but not really….
Atsuki from Tactical Art enjoying a nice, relaxing, day-off from work….
Ayako and Ryan Der enjoying their Croquettes…
I, too, enjoyed mine…
A couple of young Japanese ladies in traditional Japanese kimonos. This is actually a pretty common sight in Kyoto. You can even rent these at some of the local stores to wear around for the day….
Other tourists taking in the moment in this storied city….
The Nio-mon gate at Kiyomizu-dera….
Ayako was even a tourist that day and snapped some photos of her own for safe-keeping….
Some of the buildings at the Kiyomizu-dera were getting restored due to wear and old age…
Tactical Art Yasutaka capturing the sights of the Kiyomizu-dera….
Taku Kusugami all smiles as usual…
The view from above of the Otowa Waterfall, where visitors can drink the sacred Otowa Water from a ladle…
It never hurts to hope for some good fortune and health so visitors would light incense sticks to pray…
The temple even offered charms for sale that people could have for safe-keeping that represented various things from Happiness, Love, and even Traffic Safety….
Purification troughs at Kiyomizu-dera….
Yasutaka in prayer….
Ayako making an offering for a blessing at Kiyomizu-dera by ringing a bell on an ornate offering box…
As we were leaving, three young Japanese women asked Yasutaka for a photo which he kindly obliged…
And here is a closing shot of the Kiyomizu-dera temple. This apparently is a very popular spot to snap this photo because even when I was searching for information online of this place, most of the shots are from this exact angle, haha….
Alright, that’s about it for today. I know it seems a little mundane but it’s just one of those things that you just have to be there to experience. Thanks for looking!….
Damn the shots are amazing! The landscaping and architecture looks absolutely insane, and not to mention the women. Damn I need to get to Japan soon!
Your work is always amazing. Pictures are on point and your writing is always easy reading. I need to visit Japan before I die. Keep up the good work. Aloha.
Reblogged this on KlanHonda.
Thank you for sharing this. I love your usual content, but this is so refreshing. You really captured the tranquility in these scenes.
Great look at Japan! It’s getting my wife psyched up for our trip in a couple years.
Beautiful country, I need to go there some day. Thanks for so thoroughly sharing your trip.
Joey. I have been wondering, how do you set up your camera for this particular look? is it an option on photoshop? I would really like to know. it gives the pictures an amazing quality I cannot describe!
It’s all in the editing really. The photos are shot the same way as I usually shoot. The colors and the rest of it is all post-production.