The large rusty white sign above says “this is a national treasure; don't play inside” and the small one on the stone lantern says “don't touch” Yoshida shrine complex is full of signs with all manner of these kind of admonishments.... somewhat of a bummer.

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So, on my short outing on Sunday morning to explore Mt. Yoshida, where I ended up finding the Yoshida Shrine nestled in the mountain, I had started at an ancillary shrine accessible by a small twisty road toward the south edge of the mountain, desirable as a starting spot due to its compelling attributes of 1) I knew where it was, and 2) accessible by scooter, and 3) a place I could park the scooter.

In the center-left background of the photo above you can see a fence. My first photo of the day was of one of the fence posts:

Leaving the ancillary shrine, I noticed a large area near the side of the road strewn with large pink flower petals among the leaves...

I wondered whether they might be left over from some kind of wedding event, but they covered a fairly wide area. The trees above all seemed to be normal deciduous trees now dropping leaves rather than flowering, so I have no idea where these petals came from. Very odd.

I continued on the road up the hill a bit to an area I'd been before...

This is the reverse angle of this picture from last spring.

Like Kyoto's dazzling Fushimi Inari Shrine, and many Inari shrines, there is a walkway lined with stone or wooden torii gates representing large donations to the shrine.

This particular spot among the gates drew my attention, and I couldn't decide whether I wanted to accentuate the repetitive nature of the walkway, or the crisp rock-solid strength of the one stone gate, so I tried both. Above is one, and below is another....

After passing through the shrine, I entered the wooded “park”, which is really just some paths cut through dense forest. While in there, unlike this fake wilderness shot I posted the other day, in all directions you seen nothing but forest and path...

It's yet another reason Kyoto is so wonderful... like the higashiyama mountains, they provide a nature escape within casual walking distance of city.

Before long, I came across some brilliantly painted orange little shrine thing...

... and I had found the main Yoshida Shrine.