The main building of Kyoto Station, built 10 years ago, is not possible to adequately describe. It's a marvel of human engineering and visual slight of hand. I've been there many times (the first being not long after its grand opening, the day after my wedding), but I still always find something about it that surprises and delights me. Considering that in all the times I've been there, I've only really seen a total of about 10% of the place, so I've still got a lot to look forward to.

In a future post I will attempt to instil an [...]

As I introduced the other day, a small Shinto shrine about a hundred yards from my place here in Kyoto shut down because its main benefactor had passed away, so they had a ceremony to ask the shrine's spirit(s) to return to whence they came. Apparently, such ceremonies are exceedingly rare.

Some shrines like the nearby Heian Shrine are huge multi-acre affairs, but most are much smaller. There are literally thousands of shrines in Kyoto, with the median size probably about the size of the one that shut down: about the area of a single parking space.

As part of [...]

I really hate where I live. Not only Kyoto in general, but in particular, the specific area of Kyoto where I live.

This morning I walked to the nearby convenience store for some bread, and I was assaulted by beautiful scenes of inner-city fall foliage. Not only did they positively scream at me, they punched me in the face, demanding that I photograph them. Geez, all I wanted was some bread, and I get this!? I don't have time for this. What a crappy place to live.

Jingu-Michi ("Shrine Street", which dead-ends at the front entrance to the Heian Shrine) [...]

I seem to be buried under a photographic avalanche of my own making. I thought that today I'd get started with the bonanza of interesting and/or pretty pictures that I hinted at yesterday, but instead, today I took two more shots that I want to share.

While waiting for the fall colors to come into full swing, there are the occasional early flashes of color that entertain. My office window affords a nice view of the neighbor's front garden, with one such "early flash of color" tree. It was overcast and rainy today, with occasional short bursts of sun sprinkled [...]

I had an unexpectedly interesting day, photography-wise. In the morning there was a rare ceremony to close down a Shinto shrine, and then I got an invite to meet an old friend at Nijo Castle, a wonderful World Heritage Site about two miles away that I've driven by a hundred times, but until today had never visited.

I'm sure that photos from both events will be filling my blog for a month, but for the moment, a desktop background from each....

The shrine being closed down was a very small one (about the size of a single parking space) about [...]