{"id":1364,"date":"2009-11-17T23:58:05","date_gmt":"2009-11-17T14:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-11-17\/1364"},"modified":"2010-11-27T21:50:10","modified_gmt":"2010-11-27T12:50:10","slug":"serendipity-pleasant-sunday-morning-at-kyotos-yoshida-shrine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-11-17\/1364","title":{"rendered":"Serendipity: Pleasant Sunday Morning at Kyoto’s Yoshida Shrine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: 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.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 50 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLazy Sunday Morning<\/span>\nYoshida Shrine, nestled in Mt. Yoshida<\/b>\nKyoto, Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

While Anthony was at his swimming lesson last Sunday morning, I decided<\/span> to kill the hour by scooting the kilometer over to Mt. Yoshida and poke\naround.<\/p>\n\n

I “discovered” Mt. Yoshida when St\u00e9phane Barbery<\/a> (he of my earlier Jidai Matsuri festival\nphotos<\/a> and the wilting\nflower<\/a> posts) introduced me to it<\/a> back\nin April. At that time<\/span> I got<\/span> to visit only one small part; this time I\nwanted<\/span> to visit the major shrine I knew<\/span> to be there.... somewhere. Mt.\nYoshida is a relatively<\/span> small outcropping in the middle of town –\nabout 35 acres, half the area of a mid<\/span>-sized American mall – so I\nfigured<\/span> it wouldn't be too hard to find.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 58 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBicycle Parking<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The Yoshida Shrine dates back to the 7th century, and is most famous, I\nthink,<\/span> for its Setsubun\nfestival<\/a>, a festival<\/span> that involves the throwing of a lot<\/span> of beans, and\nan intense bonfire. (I've posted about the Setsubun festival at the Heian\nShrine, a mile<\/span> or so to the south, in my “Throwing of the\nBeans<\/a>” and “Intense Burn<\/a>” posts.) The areas leading to the\nmountain are an insane zoo during this festival; as a driver,<\/span> I've learned\nto avoid anything near it that day.<\/p>\n\n

So, I parked<\/span> the bike and started a mini<\/span> trek, and when I eventually<\/span>\ndescended a narrow<\/span> mountain path down into an open, vibrantly orange,\nand almost completely deserted shrine complex, it was a wonderful<\/span> (and wonderfully peaceful) feeling.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRegistration Table<\/span>\nwith the main shrine alter far in the background\n<\/div>\n\n

Just as I was descending from above, I saw a<\/span> family making their way up a\nlooooong<\/span> walkway from below. One of the<\/span> young kids was dressed up, and I\nfigured<\/span> that they were paying the shrine a visit<\/span> for a shichi-go-san<\/i>\nblessing, the autumn blessing for kids aged 7, 5, and 3 that Anthony did a month<\/span> ago\n(a big<\/span> event for us that showed up in a bunch<\/span> of blog posts, including:\ngetting ready<\/a>,\nentering the shrine<\/a>,\nand a family portrait<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n

Kids dressing up for this event can be exquisitely cute,\nas evidenced here<\/a>,\nhere<\/a>,\nhere<\/a>,\nand most of all here<\/a>.\nSo, I snapped<\/span> a few<\/span> pictures of the half dozen or so kids\nthat eventually congregated for what turned out to be a 10<\/span>:30am event.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBig Sister<\/span>\nis just a bit bigger on tiptoes\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nA Touch<\/span> More Formal<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSocks<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNo, Look This<\/i> Way<\/span>\n
Portrait-Mode Vertical Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\n1050×<\/span>1680<\/a>  ·  1200×<\/span>1920<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>2560<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The dad in the shot above had such a nice,<\/span> kindly presence. His relatively<\/span> mild antics to get the kids' attention reminded me of a somber<\/span>\nversion of this group\nof crazies<\/a>. I later<\/span> showed him these pictures on the back of my camera,\nand gave him my email to contact me in case he wanted copies. I do this<\/span>\nfrom time to time when I think<\/span> I have<\/span> a shot<\/span> that someone might really\ntreasure, but no one has ever contacted me to take me up on the offer. Oh\nwell.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nJust Being Cute<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFamilies Waiting for the Event to Begin<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPhotographer Waiting for the Event to Begin<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

It was about as pleasant a Sunday morning as I could<\/span> imagine. The mood was<\/span> extremely relaxed... there were just the few families and maybe one or\ntwo other visitors like me. The kids were<\/span> all well behaved, but not in a\nrepressed<\/span> way. I had happened<\/span> upon a very<\/span> pleasant atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPriest Arrives<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The kids and families shuffled into the inner shrine area (where photography is not allowed at the Heian Shrine, though\nI don't<\/span> know about this one), but from outside at a distance<\/span> I could<\/span> get a shot<\/span> of the priest chanting the names of the kids...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBlessings Begin<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And with that, much more quickly than I would<\/span> have liked, I had to<\/span>\nreturn before Anthony's lesson ended (after which I snapped<\/span> the purple morning glory<\/a> I\nposted<\/span> the other day).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While Anthony was at his swimming lesson last Sunday morning, I decided to kill the hour by scooting the kilometer over to Mt. Yoshida and poke around.<\/p>

I \"discovered\" Mt. Yoshida when St\u00e9phane Barbery (he of my earlier Jidai Matsuri festival photos and the wilting flower posts) introduced me to it back in April. At that time I got to visit only one small part; this time I wanted to visit the major shrine I knew to be there.... somewhere. Mt. Yoshida is a relatively small outcropping in the middle of town – about 35 acres, half the area of [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2,6,10,25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}