Returning From Lunch: New Discoveries Close To Home in Eastern Kyoto
NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.
More Of Those Weird Greenish Cherry Blossoms 御衣黄桜 ( gyoikou sakura ), similar to those seen here  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1100 — map & image datanearby photos
More Of Those Weird Greenish Cherry Blossoms
御衣黄桜 (gyoikou sakura), similar to those seen here

First there was the walk to lunch (“On The Way To Lunch: Eastern-Kyoto Stroll”), then lunch (“Delicious Yuba Lunch at Junsei”), and now the walk home...

We came across an ultra-fluffy yaezakura cherry that comes out late (a variety seen five years ago on my blog in “10 Gallons of Blossoms on a 5-Gallon Branch”). It seemed all the more fluffy set off by the new-growth green of the trees around it...

Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
A Bit Overwhelming I like this variety better from a distance  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 720 — map & image datanearby photos
A Bit Overwhelming
I like this variety better from a distance
( the blossoms in the picture were much closer than Paul, who was aiming at something else )  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 — map & image datanearby photos
( the blossoms in the picture were much closer than Paul, who was aiming at something else )

It was a pleasant day in a pleasant area...

Random Street Scene ( photographically uninteresting, but hopefully conveys a sense of relaxed “pleasant” )  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 560 — map & image datanearby photos
Random Street Scene
( photographically uninteresting, but hopefully conveys a sense of relaxed “pleasant” )

One property we came by had a bunch of trees that seemed to glow in an unearthly way that stopped everyone in their tracks... it was just amazing, but these photos capture none of it )-:

Unearthly Phosphorescent the new-growth leaves leave jaws dropped  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 900 — map & image datanearby photos
Unearthly Phosphorescent
the new-growth leaves leave jaws dropped
desktop background image of a traditional Japanese wall set before a backdrop of vividly green trees  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1000 — map & image datanearby photos
Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600

I don't know whether this glowing effect was hindered or helped by the weird lighting we had all day, due to a particularly thick treatment of kosa haze, a fine yellow dust that blows in from China.

desktop background image of the green of new-spring growth reflected in a large iron door hinge, in Kyoto Japan  --  Green Reflection  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2000 — map & image datanearby photos
Green Reflection
Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600
desktop background image of a well-textured door set within a door  --  “ I Heard You Like Doors” well textured by the weather ( I would have liked to step a few paces further back for this shot )  --  Maruyama Park  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400 — map & image datanearby photos
I Heard You Like Doors”
well textured by the weather
( I would have liked to step a few paces further back for this shot )
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions
1050×1680  ·  1200×1920  ·  1600×2560

As we were approaching Maruyama Park, I thought to take a small street that I'd not really noticed before, and I was shocked to find a whole section of town I'd not known about. Here's the entrance to a temple I'd not known about, chorakuji, which judging by the name (“long fun temple”) may end up becoming my favorite temple.

desktop background image of the entrance path to the Choraku-ji Temple (長楽寺) in Kyoto, Japan  --  Choraku-ji Temple Kyoto, Japan  --  Maruyama Park  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600 — map & image datanearby photos
Choraku-ji Temple
Kyoto, Japan
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions
1050×1680  ·  1200×1920  ·  1600×2560

We were in a rush so didn't stop in, but I plan to remedy that soon.

This was near the temple seen in “Some Temple or Other” on the earlier on-the-way-to-lunch post, a temple that also remains unexplored. I was stunned to find these places and some of the others seen later in this post because I used to live just a third of a mile away, but I never knew about it. Part of the reason might be that it's all behind Maruyama Park, a popular park that I have a strong dislike for because it's the poster child for the ugly side of cherry-blossom viewing. So, I have tended to avoid the area and proactively ignore anything I felt connected with it, but it seems I've thrown out some impressive babies with the ugly-crowd bath water.

Continuing on this “secret” (from me) road, we passed a number of inns, including one whose front “lawn” was certainly made more impressive by the kosa-induced lighting:

desktop background image of mossy hillside in Kyoto, Japan  --  Front Lawn of sorts  --  Maruyama Park  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image datanearby photos
Front Lawn
of sorts
Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600
Maruyama Park  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5000 — map & image datanearby photos
Brilliantly Glowing Red entrance to something or other  --  Maruyama Park  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2000 — map & image datanearby photos
Brilliantly Glowing Red
entrance to something or other
Suddenly Monochromatic rear view of the Chion'in Temple  --  Maruyama Park  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 720 — map & image datanearby photos
Suddenly Monochromatic
rear view of the Chion'in Temple
Nice Parking Spot  --  Maruyama Park  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 — map & image datanearby photos
Nice Parking Spot
Somewhat Foreboding  --  Maruyama Park  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 450 — map & image datanearby photos
Somewhat Foreboding

Descending back into the park to head home, I couldn't help but snap some low-hanging (in the literal sense) blossoms...

Maruyama Park  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3600 — map & image datanearby photos
desktop background image of dainty flowers  --  Dainty  --  Maruyama Park  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1000 — map & image datanearby photos
Dainty
Desktop-Background Versions
1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600
Stroll watching the geese and ducks  --  Maruyama Park  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 cropped — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 560 — map & image datanearby photos
Stroll
watching the geese and ducks

I was running quite late so had to high-tail it home, but the afternoon was an enjoyable walk followed by an enjoyable lunch followed by an enjoyable walk that only left me more hungry, so to speak, for more.


One comment so far...

I enjoyed seeing the combined roof shapes that you captured in JF7_111221.jpg. Very interesting composition. Tom

— comment by Tom in SF on May 7th, 2012 at 12:59am JST (12 years, 5 months ago) comment permalink
Leave a comment...


All comments are invisible to others until Jeffrey approves them.

Please mention what part of the world you're writing from, if you don't mind. It's always interesting to see where people are visiting from.

IMPORTANT:I'm mostly retired, so I don't check comments often anymore, sorry.


You can use basic HTML; be sure to close tags properly.

Subscribe without commenting