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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Growing Tsukubai Basin
Sanzen-in Temple
in Ohara, a mountain suburb of Kyoto, Japan

Getting cabin fever from being cooped up inside due to the swine flu hysteria, Fumie wanted to get out and into nature, and I was all for it. We decided to visit the Sanzen-in temple (home page) in the mountains north-east of Kyoto, about 20 minutes by car.

We'd gone by the unattractive bus parking lots for it many times, and so based on that my preconceived image wasn't very complimentary, but it turns out that my prejudice was what most prejudice is: ignorant.

The unattractive parking lots are apparently private third-party lots, among many dotting the main road through the village of Ohara (officially, part of Kyoto City). The temple itself is set in a niche of the mountains about half a mile off the main road, reached by a pleasant stroll past restaurants and shops that are surprisingly in good taste. (Normally, the environs around a famous rural temple or shrine are fairly garish, and to me, one of the uglier features of Japanese culture.) I even saw something I'd never seen before: chilled cucumber on a stick which I can actually sort of imagine as being refreshing, and chilled eggplant on a stick which I cannot. Wow.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lane Leading to the Temple

The couple in the shot above are checking out this restaurant...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Restaurant Along the Lane

...which features a cute figure dressed in a costume related to the temple...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lady Carrying a Bundle of Sticks?
(if it were a real person, would babies be on her head?)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Halfway There
Anthony makes the trip faster by flying

The lane leading to the temple was wonderfully wooded and pleasant, paralleling a little stream. I felt like we were walking in the woods, but in looking at the satellite photo of the area (see the “exif & map” link under each photo), I see that it's just a little strip like this, surrounded by rice fields.

Anyway, we reached the temple and paid the 700 yen (~$7) each to get in, which is fairly pricy as temples go, but, as I soon found out, well worth it.

The grounds are made up of many temple buildings, separated by wonderful gardens. Being on a mountainside, there are many different zones, each with its own flavor. (The Konzou Temple, which I wrote about last month, is also on a mountainside, but the two couldn't be further apart in style, feel, popularity, state of repair, mountain steepness, or commercialism. A comparison would perhaps make an interesting post.)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Inner Passage

I'm not sure how old the temple site is, but it was founded by a guy who died in 822, so “about 1,200 years ago” would be a good guess. I have no idea what the temple name, 三千, means, but the characters for it mean “3,000”.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Contemplation

Patience is an important skill for a photographer... I saw the girl sitting there enjoying the garden, sitting seiza style, and wanted to get the picture you see above. Unfortunately, there seemed to always be someone else in the frame... people coming or going, or just wandering into frame and picking that spot to tie their shoe. It was surprisingly uncrowded for a weekend (perhaps one of the nicer side effects of the flu hysteria), but it was a pretty spot and so naturally there were always people coming and going.

So I waited, and waited, and waited, and finally, for just a second or three, it was clear and I got the shot I wanted.

The temple had a little activity for elementary-school kids (for whom admission is only 150 yen to begin with), a “stamp rally” where they visit six stations throughout the grounds and add a stamp to a booklet, then at the last, when presenting the booklet filled with stamps, receive a small present. Like most children, Anthony probably prefers having teeth pulled in preference to anything involving nature or history or culture, so this stamp-rally thing made the visit appealing for him.

Here', he's getting stamp #2...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stamp Station #2

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/80 sec, f/4.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stamp #2

Stamp Station #2 was near a corner of one of the main buildings, and the walkway that wrapped around the outside yielded some impressive views.....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
View Across One of the Gardens
to the rear of the next temple building

The grounds are filled with short momiji maple, which are certainly spectacular in the fall, along the lines, I'm sure, with the garden at the Enkouji Temple (as seen in this post of Kyoto fall-foliage desktop backgrounds, and in this spectacular photo), but here, there's an additional dimension lent by towering cedars...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/9, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Towering

From about the same spot, looking back toward the mountain, I noticed a stairway blending in with the wooded slope...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Forest Stairway

Anyway, back inside, to the area with “Stamp Station #2”...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
An Ornate View
from the stamp station

In the center-foreground of the picture above, you can see a stack of sticks (182 sticks, actually). These are gomaki, sticks on which you write a personal wish or prayer. The temple later burns them in a ceremony, and your wish/prayer goes with the smoke up to the heavens. (I posted about the comparable Shinto rite in last year's “Intense Burn” post, and in the prior year's “Rare Shinto Shrine-Closing Ceremony” post.)

Anyway, when Fumie wrote one, Anthony decided to do one as well. All by himself, without any prompting or help, this is what he wrote:

He wrote the wrong character at the end, but otherwise it's perfect, and means:

We're very proud of him.

Unfortunately, I missed him actually writing it, because I was again exercising patience to try to get a shot just outside the building, of the path continuing on the suggested route for temple visitors, devoid of people...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Path
Sanzen-in Temple, Ohara, Kyoto Japan

The small white wall toward the end of the path are ropes filled with omikuji “bad fortunes”, as I wrote about here.

Eventually Anthony and Fumie finished writing their gomaki and joined me, and I think I startled Anthony or something, because I captured a serious face that hints at what he'll look like as an adult...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Serious Moment?

He is a kid, though, so did a little dance in excitement about the “stamp rally” thing...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kid Dancing a Happy Jig

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stamp #3

Stamp #3 was outside a smaller temple building (the one visible from the back, across the garden, in several of the shots above). While he was up there getting his stamp, a monk inside started giving a presentation of some sort, so they hung around a bit to watch...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/5, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos

As before, I took the opportunity to try to get a pretty picture of the gardens. It was overcast for much of the day, but the sun was showing a bit at that moment, so...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sunshine at the Sanzen-in Temple

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Leaving Stamp Station #3
( which, as you can see, looks nicer from the front than from the back )

We weren't even halfway through the grounds yet, but this post is already way too long (and I'm up way too far past my bedtime), so I'll leave the rest for another post...

Continued here...