A close-up of some of the flowers on the altar at yesterday's nun ordination (or whatever becoming a nun is called)...

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My friend Britto's friend, Saikawa-san, was ordained a Catholic nun today, and I was invited to photograph the event. I always feel a bit iffy about using a camera during Mass, but I've done it a few times when it's been specifically allowed, such as when Anthony served mass for the first time, and when a friend's baby was baptized. Today went beyond "allowed" to "requested", so I approached it with (an appropriately reserved) gusto.

Just after the vows, she got a hug from a French-speaking lady that I assumed to be her mentor. I was unprepared for it and [...]

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Today was another day of overcast and occasional rain, like yesterday but much colder (10°C vs. 21°C). With my friend Thomas Hertel visiting from Germany, we headed into the mountains of northern Kyoto, to Kibune, where nature is always quite pretty. I've been there enough over the years that I have a Kibune category of posts on my blog.

Kibune has been a popular destination for over a thousand years (some of its story being told in my Kibune Shrine (sort of) post). It's famous these days mostly for the coolness it offers in Kyoto's oppressively hot summers, and for [...]

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An old friend from my days working at Omron in the early 90s visited Kyoto today. He's German and lives in Germany, and I hadn't seen him since he attended my wedding in Kyoto in 1998, where he was the only one to fly in from outside Japan. Along the same lines more than 10 years later, he took the opportunity of a business trip to Korea to pop over to Kyoto for the weekend, just in time for the start of some nice fall colors.

Unfortunately, the weather was dark and gloomy for much of the afternoon, with intermittent [...]

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