I had to drop the car off for a checkup this morning, and decided to walk the mile or so back to my place. There's nothing particularly special between the car shop and home, but then again, it's fairly typical Kyoto, so I brought the camera along. My route was predetermined, but what I took pictures of was random....

The elderly lady above was just crossing the street (Higashioji, at Nijo), perhaps on her way to the bus stop nearby.

We'd had a fairly rainy day on Friday, and you can see where the river had risen a bit and flattened some of the grass on the “island.” It's an amazing sight when the river rises high enough to completely hide all islands and waterfalls. After really heavy rains, the river floods to fill the entire breadth between (and sometimes over) the banks, rising several meters until it almost touches the bridge I was standing on.

It's hard to see in the wide-angle shot above, but on the far right bank there was a group of preschoolers that the teacher had just let loose, running as fast as their happy little feet could carry them. There's just something about seeing little kids run that can't help but bring a smile.

A hundred years ago or so (?), common house construction consisted of timber frames with the walls of mud packed over lightly-woven bamboo lattices, all of which was covered with a veneer of wood planking. Sometimes it lasts a long time, and sometimes it doesn't. I'm not certain which category the house above belongs to, but the wall is clearly on its last legs (or, at least, the veneer is).

I thought the non-sign on the building above was interesting, as you can see at least two layers of former lettering. The more recent one literally translates to “Cars of Every Country...” before it's lost in the repair. The one underneath is shorter and harder to see, but I think it begins with “vehicle inspection...” It's also vaguely interesting to see that they replaced the windows, but didn't bother repainting the rest of the front so the remodel work would blend in. I guess exterior appearances are not high on their list.

There are temples all over the place here, but getting a picture of one without utility poles, telephone wires, street signs, cars, or other modern optical junk is more of a challenge. The photo above is just the roof of a small gate, but it's a start.

Not long after taking it I came across the following map by the sidewalk, showing the location of select temples and businesses, with temples being marked with a Swastika The faded red sticker in the upper right shows the location of the sign. A bit to the left and down from there is 佛光寺 (Bukkouji), where I photographed the gate. It's not the Bukkoji Temple, which is a mile or so away, but seems to be for some related sect. I dunno.

By the way, the swastika symbol has been used in Japan for thousands of years, long before it was appropriated for evil, so the negative connotations it has in the west are not present here. (Apparently, the earliest recorded use of a swastika dates back about 7,000 years.)

I go by this intersection pretty much every day, and have always found it interesting how the facade of the building on the right just ends mid stream, so to speak. Did someone sell half their building, with the new owners redoing their half of the facade, leaving the old one cut in half? Who knows....

These extra-thin ambulances were getting washed in front of the local fire station. The thinness is, of course, so they can navigate the thin and crowded streets more easily.

Still, I hope my life never depends on on one of these, because Japanese ambulances travel about as fast as someone on a bicycle. This slowness is usually due to the crowded streets and the population's apparent general reluctance to care enough for the life of another to bother making room. But even when they have a wide open street, I've never seen them go particularly fast. Perhaps the posted speed limit applies to them, and (unlike everyone else) they actually respect it.

Notice how the taxi is stopped in the “keep clear for ambulances” zone? I hate taxis.

The big tree at the right was featured in the bunches-of-blossoms post.

Finally, I stopped by the convenience store close to my place, and took the following picture of an area near the sidewalk: short shrubs with a sea of recently-bloomed pink.

These colorful blossoms are making themselves seen all around these days. In fact, the first photo of the stroll an hour earlier was of the same subject at a separate location. I've had a lot of flowers on my blog lately, and too many pictures vying for inclusion in this post, so only one location's sea of pink made the cut today.