Jeffrey Friedl's Blog » A Few Desktop Backgrounds from the Delightfully Whimsical Otaginenbutsuji Temple in Northwestern Kyoto

A Few Desktop Backgrounds from the Delightfully Whimsical Otaginenbutsuji Temple in Northwestern Kyoto

by Jeffrey Friedl Fri, February 28th, 2014 10:03am JST (10 years, 2 months ago)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Waiting, Waiting, Fervently Waiting
for world peace that never comes

at the Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺)
Kyoto Japan

Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800 · 1680×1050 · 1920×1200 · 2560×1600 · 2880×1800

The New York Times Travel section recently published the article “36 Hours in Kyoto, Japan” (thanks Ed Pouso for the link), and one of the locations the author visited is the delightful Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) in the northern Arashiyama area of Kyoto.

I thought it was a missed opportunity that the article didn't include a photo from the temple, which reminded me that although I've visited the temple twice, in both the spring and fall of 2012, I'd not yet gotten around to posting anything. My own missed opportunity, of which my photo catalog holds so many. Sigh. So until I can do a full-on post, here are a few desktop backgrounds of some of the 1,200 statues — ranging from whimsical and silly to serious and pious — that dot and fill the mountainside location.

(The author of the NYT article writes the name of the temple as “Otagi Nenbutsu-ji”, but in this post I write it the way the temple itself writes it: “Otaginenbutsuji Temple”. In any case, the actual name is “愛宕念仏寺”.)

desktop background image of moss-covered statues at the delightful Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) in Kyoto Japan -- Private Meditation -- Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) -- Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — ¹/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Private Meditation

Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800 · 1680×1050 · 1920×1200 · 2560×1600 · 2880×1800

desktop background image of moss-covered statues at the delightful Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) in Kyoto Japan -- Nodding Off -- Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) -- Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nodding Off

Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800 · 1680×1050 · 1920×1200 · 2560×1600 · 2880×1800

desktop background image of moss-covered statues at the delightful Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) in Kyoto Japan -- Friendship, Love, and Hope -- Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) -- Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Friendship, Love, and Hope

Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800 · 1680×1050 · 1920×1200 · 2560×1600 · 2880×1800

desktop background image of moss-covered statues at the delightful Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) in Kyoto Japan -- Deep this has an intensity I'm unable to put into words -- Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) -- Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Deep
this has an intensity I'm unable to put into words

Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800 · 1680×1050 · 1920×1200 · 2560×1600 · 2880×1800

desktop background image of moss-covered statues at the delightful Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) in Kyoto Japan -- Among Friends -- Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) -- Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Among Friends

Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800 · 1680×1050 · 1920×1200 · 2560×1600 · 2880×1800

To be clear, the captions are the feelings that I ascribe to the statue as I look at them today while writing this post. I don't know what the original sculptors intended to convey, but I suspect the point of the collection is to let each piece evoke in the viewer whatever it evokes. Along those lines, perhaps I should not put any caption at all.... (?)

Continued here...

October	24th,	2014	Entrance to Kyoto's Jojuji Temple at its Fall Best
May	22nd,	2015	Photo-Development Challenge Results #2: Statues
June	19th,	2015	Cycling to Miyama with Gorm
July	4th,	2015	That Kyoto Temple With the Many Whimsical Statues

You can submit a comment below | Posted under: Desktop Backgrounds, Fall Colors, General, Japan, Pretty Photos, Temples and Shrines | Comments via RSS | Trackback

All 5 comments so far, oldest first...

One of my favorite destinations in Kyoto. Too bad it’s both located on the other side of the city from me, and in tourist-infested Arashiyama.

I think I remember hearing or reading that all those quirky statues resulted from some famous Jizo stoneworker holding a class or workshop for amateurs, and all the resulting pieces ended up at the Otaginenbutsuji Temple.

— comment by Zak on February 28th, 2014 at 11:27am JST (10 years, 2 months ago) — comment permalink

I missed this temple! Will have to go back to Kyoto to visit 😉

— comment by Nicolas on March 1st, 2014 at 4:19am JST (10 years, 2 months ago) — comment permalink

These are wonderful photos. I love them!!!

— comment by Arthur Brigham on March 1st, 2014 at 10:07am JST (10 years, 2 months ago) — comment permalink

gorgeous pictures!

ah ah funny. I’ve stumbled upon your blog by chance, while I was looking for something related to photography but after seeing you was the author of “Mastering Regular Expressions”, well, I’ve come to a conclusion that was not by chance after all…

take care,

— comment by giovanni on March 2nd, 2014 at 11:12pm JST (10 years, 2 months ago) — comment permalink

These are great, but the first guy is my absolute favorite. I look at him and find myself both smiling and wanting to dose him with Pepto Bismol.

— comment by Marcina on March 4th, 2014 at 4:42am JST (10 years, 2 months ago) — comment permalink