Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/8, ISO 110 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entrance Path
Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘), Uji Japan
As I mentioned in “Oppressive Crowds at the Shodensanso Villa” the other day, I paid my first visit to the “mountain cottage” Shodensanso (松殿山荘) this weekend. It's a half-hour drive south-east from my place in Kyoto, just over the border into Uji City.
From the makeshift parking area created for the special event, the path up to the villa looked like an empty river bed or canal.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gate Appears
around the corner
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/13, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Impressive
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 60mm — 1/250 sec, f/8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38mm — 1/160 sec, f/10, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Back
(some hours later)
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
(even more hours later)
Anyway, after coming up through the gate, one can approach the main house...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dual Entrances
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 31mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sub Entrance
on the left
likely the one used by the family on a day-to-day basis
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Main Entrance
on the right
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Roof Detail
I didn't notice it at the time, but the lowermost tiles along the edge of the roof have the name of place embedded in them. I took a photo of similar tiles at another spot when I noticed it some hours later...
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/60 sec, f/6.3, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Personalized Roof Tiles
The characters are clearly the name of the place, 「松殿山荘」, backwards, but the form of the characters are quite different from normal. I recognize one (how they wrote 「山」) as being an archaic form, so perhaps they all are.
And speaking of odd ways to write the characters, the name of the place is also written large above the main entrance, as seen in this detail shot:
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 44mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Again, it's written backwards, but the form used is the normal modern form except for the one at the far right, which should be written 「松」, but instead has the left/right parts rearranged in an above/below way as「木公」. I've never seen a “rearrangement” like this in Japanese, so I'm not sure what to make of it.
写真の上をマウスで左右にゆっくり動かすといろいろな撮影効果を楽しむことができます。
for most everyone else in Kyoto
at the Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘)
(with a little bonus there at the end)
(You can't tell in the wigglegram, but she was looking at a wonderful garden out in the bright sunlight.)
The peak of Kyoto's fall-foliage season is upon us, and today was likely the most crowded day the city has seen all year, if not all decade. It's the middle of a three-day weekend, and every hotel room is taken. (I know two people who wanted to visit Kyoto but couldn't get a hotel; one stayed 30km away in Osaka, and the other at our house.) The streets across the city were parking lots and the crowds were oppressive.
But not for me and some friends, who visited the Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘茶道会 ) south-east of Kyoto just over the border into Uji City. It's not normally open to the public, but twice a year they allow a limited number of folks to visit, and Damien (seen at the end of the wigglegram above) hooked us up with reservations.
At most a scant 100 people total could visit over the course of the five-hour opening, but I didn't notice anywhere near that many folks.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Oppressive Crowd
this guy stood in my way for 10, possibly 15 seconds!
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Packed Hallway
but they were staff, there to serve me tea
This place was spectacular. I'm sure I used that adjective for another villa that's appeared on my blog, the Seifuso Villa (seen both inside and out), but this place, built a generation later (circa 1927) is even more amazing, by far.
I returned home with a camera memory card filled with delights, but unfortunately on the same roads that everyone else was stuck on. (To quote the phrase, I wasn't “stuck” in traffic; I was traffic). It took me 20 minutes to get 98% of the way home, and another 20 to make the last quarter mile.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 28mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
What am I?
something at the Shojiji Temple (AKA “Hanadera”), Kyoto Japan
勝持寺 / 花の寺
The other temple we visited on Tuesday's outing after the spectacular Yoshiminedera (seen here and here) is one known as the “Flower Temple” (hanadera — 花寺), though its official name is the Shojiji Temple (勝持寺).
In any case, the thing seen above was sitting on the veranda of the main temple building. On the front in faded big characters is 「大原野」(Oharano), the name of the area.
On the side is a date: July 1889.
What is this 125-year-old thing?
As usual with my “What am I?” quizzes, I'll keep all comments from appearing until after I reveal the answer in a blog post in a few days.
For context, here's a wider view of the front of the temple building:
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
The quiz thing is at left, partially obscured in this view by the stone lantern.
Pulling back farther, and to the right, you can get a small hint as to why we were there...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 27mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entrance to the Yoshiminedera Temple
Re-imaged
善峯寺の正門
A few more from yesterday's visit to the Yoshiminedera Temple, about which I posted last night in “The Whole Gamut of My Blog In One Spectacular Visit to the Yoshiminedera Temple”.
The photo above is similar to one seen yesterday, but with a different, exaggerated presentation.
The parking lot was surprisingly unfilled, so we made a bee-line to the photogenic path seen in yesterday's lead photo...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Almost There
the guy in the background is standing at the base of the photogenic
Heading up that way, you get a nice view of the main temple building that we'd zipped on past, and the trees on the face of the opposing mountain in the background....
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/9, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Roof Detail
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Often Not Empty
but it was so uncrowded that we had hope
Sometimes the nature of the folks on the path lent a nice feeling to the photos...
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Relaxing Date
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sometimes Not so Much
But patience was rewarded. This next one looks spectacular full screen...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32mm — 1/125 sec, f/10, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Moving on, we came across a couple of guys working on the landscaping....
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40mm — 1/160 sec, f/3.2, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Shoring Up a Hillside
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/14, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Little Shrine
within the temple
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tripods Allowed
one of the few places that allows tripods.... but only on weekdays
As I wrote in “A Temple with Extra Restrictions on Photography is Now My Favorite Kyoto Temple” last year, the trend toward prohibiting tripods is increasing. I noticed for the first time this year that Yoshiminedera now prohibits tripods during the weekend, and that Kongorinji now prohibits the possession of a tripod.
It's just as well with me because I'm too lazy to use a tripod, though there are some special cases where I'd certainly like to be both not so lazy, and allowed to use one.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
That Little Shrine
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
From Above
iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera — 1/25 sec, f/2.4, ISO 50 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ridiculously Overflowing Bowl
of rice, raw tuna, avocado, and poached egg
After yesterday's visit to the spectacular Yoshiminedera Temple in south-western Kyoto, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant we happened across on the way to the next temple. It seemed like an average lunch cafe, but it had a shocking surprise in store for us.
昨日の昼ご飯は京都市西京区の「茶房か寿が」で食べました。 ポールさんの注文は「マグロとアボカド丼定食」を大盛りにしましたが、びっくりほど大きいマンガ盛りマグロが多かった。本当に８〜１０倍位見込みより多かった。１２００円だけでめっちゃメッチャ良かったです。マグロはハイークオリティーでした。
Paul ordered the “tuna sashimi (raw tuna slices) and avocado over rice” lunch. At just 1,200 yen (about US$10.50) one doesn't expect much fish, so he ordered the large. What he got was a shockingly large amount of fish... 8 to 10 times the amount expected.
iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera — 1/30 sec, f/2.4, ISO 50 — map & image data — nearby photos
Group of Ladies Behind Paul
are similarly shocked
At first this brought to mind the excesses of the not-so-far-away Hagi Burger, but those comparisons soon melted away as we realized that the pile of tuna sashimi was not propped up by an interior of rice... it was really just that big.
We're not big on taking photos of everything we intend to shove in our mouth, but this was just beyond ridiculous. The experience required documentation.
iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera — 1/60 sec, f/2.4, ISO 64 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Third Gone
yet nary a dent was made
The Japanese word for a regular order is the regular word for “regular”, futsuu (普通). The word for a large portion of food is “oomori” (大盛り). These are standard words you'll find on most any menu, but Damien taught us two slang words that sort of help to describe the situation.
The next step beyond “large” is “mountain large” yamamori (山盛り), which is pretty easy to figure out as it calls to mind the image of food being piled up like a mountain. I suppose this is similar to “super-size” in American English.
In America, some folks might add a next step beyond “super-size” along the lines of “Texas size”, but if you really want to go to the extreme... beyond plausibility right to the edge of possibility... you'll want the Japanese word for the step beyond “mountain large” — such a ridiculously large amount that you could only see it as a wildly exaggerated caricature in a Japanese comic book — is called “comic large”, which sounds so much better in actual Japanese: mangamori (マンガ盛り).
The name of the restaurant is “Kasuga”, so I think we have the birth of a new slang word beyond manga mori: “kasuga mori”!
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Restaurant Kasuga
茶房か寿が
in the countryside-suburbs of south-western Kyoto, Japan