Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/400 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Formal Reception
Imperial police officer waits for tour members to arrive at the
entrance to the Shugakuin Imperial Villa (修学院離宮), Kyoto Japan

Last autumn I finally made my first visit to the sprawling mountainside Shugakuin Imperial Villa in north-east Kyoto. It's one of three imperial (connected with the Emperor of Japan) sites in Kyoto that you can visit via reservation, but reservations can be difficult to come by. For example, other than a few time slots next month, every online reservation slot is already full through the end of May.

However, foreigners can stop by the Imperial Household Agency office (on the grounds of the imperial-palace park, here) to pick up a near-term reservation if any have opened up. If you're lucky you get one on the same day or the next day, but you can try to reserve up to a month in advance. You can make a reservation for yourself and three others, but at most only one can be Japanese. You need details on IDs (copy of a driver's license, passport, residency card, etc.) for all members in order to register.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/60 sec, f/4, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Near the Waiting Area

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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos

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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Way Too Red
Damien's hat was deep red, but the leaves were much deeper still
( and so their color overwhelmed the camera sensor, washing them out :-()

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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tour Guide

The tour moves at a pretty tight and brisk pace, stopping at various buildings (mostly tea houses) for some discussion. The guides/chaperons — all polite but unsmiling plain-clothed policemen — don't allow you to dawdle. For someone interested in photography, it's both exciting and frustrating, because you'll be exposed to scene after beautiful scenes, each of which you could spend hours at, but in most locations a pause of 10 seconds will earn you a reprimand to keep up.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/400 sec, f/4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Just Passing Through
we were marched past this garden single-file, with nary a moment to pause

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/125 sec, f/4, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Quick Snap

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/500 sec, f/1.6, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stream

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/1250 sec, f/1.6, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Longer Pause
with much of the villa grounds before us
Shugakuin Imperial Villa (修学院離宮)

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The sun was just popping up over the mountains and the light was crisp and raw, leaving the evergreen trees positively glowing in an otherworldly way. I thought to try to overexpose a bit to capture the brilliance... not sure it really works, but here it is:

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/125 sec, f/9, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Brilliant

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/9, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Choke Point
police chaperon watches and waits while tour members enter a restricted area

In one of the tea houses (all of which you can see from the outside only), down a long dark hallway you could see some notable old paintings of some of the huge wooden floats from the Gion Festival (such as this and this). It was very dark, but at ISO 10,000 you can make something of nothing...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 10000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Massive Festival Float

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wooden Gutter

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Something a bit Different
just futzing around in Lightroom

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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Path
the line of evergreens flank a path we took

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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 110 — map & image data — nearby photos
On the Path

The various private/secure areas are separated by farmer's fields and paths...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Farmer's Path

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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Emperor's Path

Continued here...