{"id":474,"date":"2007-05-29T00:23:27","date_gmt":"2007-05-28T15:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-05-29\/474"},"modified":"2007-05-29T00:23:27","modified_gmt":"2007-05-28T15:23:27","slug":"a-randomly-photographed-stroll-in-kyoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-05-29\/474","title":{"rendered":"A Randomly Photographed Stroll in Kyoto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f\/5.6, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHaving a Stroll<\/span> in Kyoto<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I had to drop the car off for a checkup<\/span> this morning, and decided to\nwalk the mile or so back to my place. There's nothing particularly special\nbetween the car shop and home, but then again, it's fairly typical Kyoto,\nso I brought<\/span> the camera along. My route<\/span> was predetermined, but what I took<\/span>\npictures of was random....<\/p>\n\n

The elderly lady above was just crossing the street (Higashioji, at\nNijo), perhaps on her way to the bus stop nearby.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f\/10, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFlower Bed in front of Hotel Fujita<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f\/8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKamo River, North from Nijo St.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

We'd had a fairly rainy day on Friday, and you can see where the river\nhad risen a bit<\/span> and flattened some of the grass on the\n“island.” It's an amazing sight when the river rises high\nenough to completely hide all islands and waterfalls. After really<\/i>\nheavy rains, the river floods to fill the entire breadth between (and\nsometimes over) the banks, rising several meters until it almost touches\nthe bridge I was<\/span> standing on. <\/p>\n\n

It's hard to see in the wide-angle shot above, but on the far right bank\nthere was a group<\/span> of preschoolers that the teacher had just let loose,\nrunning as fast as their happy little feet could carry them. There's just\nsomething about seeing little kids run that can't help but bring a\nsmile.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f\/10, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRiverside Play for Preschoolers<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 44mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f\/8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBig and Colorful Flower<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 34mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>350 sec, f\/5.6, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBuilding in Need of a Facial<\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

A hundred years ago or so (?), common house construction consisted of\ntimber frames with the walls of mud packed over lightly-woven bamboo\nlattices, all of which was covered with a veneer<\/span> of wood planking. Sometimes\nit lasts a long<\/span> time, and sometimes it doesn't. I'm not certain<\/span> which\ncategory the house above belongs to, but the wall is clearly on its last\nlegs (or, at least, the veneer is).<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 38mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f\/5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nReincarnation<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I thought the non-sign on the building above was interesting, as you can\nsee at least two layers of former lettering. The more recent<\/span> one literally\ntranslates to “Cars of Every Country...” before it's lost in the repair. The one underneath<\/span> is shorter and harder\nto see, but I think<\/span> it begins with “vehicle inspection...”\n\nIt's also vaguely interesting to see that they replaced the windows, but\ndidn't bother repainting the rest of the front so the remodel work would\nblend in. I guess<\/span> exterior appearances are not high on their list.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a> Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17<\/span>-55 f\/2.8 @ 45mm\n— 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>350 sec, f\/5, ISO 200 — full\nexif & map<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span> Roof of a\nTemple<\/span> Gate<\/span> <\/div>\n\n

There are temples all over the place here, but getting a picture<\/span> of one\nwithout utility poles, telephone wires, street signs, cars, or other modern\noptical junk is more of a challenge.<\/span> The photo<\/span> above is just the roof of a\nsmall<\/span> gate, but it's a start.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Not long after taking it I came across the following map by the\nsidewalk, showing the location of select temples and businesses, with\ntemples being marked with a Swastika<\/a> The faded red\nsticker in the upper right shows the location of the sign. A bit to<\/span> the\nleft and down from there is \u4f5b\u5149\u5bfa<\/span><\/b> (Bukkouji), where I photographed<\/span>\nthe gate. It's not the<\/i> Bukkoji Temple<\/a>, which\nis a mile<\/span> or so away, but seems to be for some related sect. I dunno.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 30mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f\/5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLots-a' Temples<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

By the way, the swastika symbol has been used in Japan for thousands of\nyears, long before it was appropriated for evil, so the negative\nconnotations it has in the west are not present here. (Apparently, the earliest recorded use of a\nswastika<\/span><\/a> dates back about 7,000 years.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSevered<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I go by this intersection pretty much every day, and have always found\nit interesting how the facade of the building on the right just ends mid\nstream, so to speak. Did someone<\/span> sell half their building, with the new\nowners redoing their half of the facade, leaving the old one cut in half?\nWho knows....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f\/5.6, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThin Margin of Safety<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

These extra-thin ambulances were getting washed in front of the local\nfire station. The thinness<\/span> is, of course, so they can navigate the thin and\ncrowded streets more easily.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nStill, I hope my<\/span> life never depends on one of these, because Japanese\nambulances travel about as fast as someone on a bicycle.<\/span> This slowness is\nusually due to the crowded streets and the population's apparent general\nreluctance to care enough for the life of another to bother making room. But even when<\/span> they have a wide<\/span> open street, I've never seen them go\nparticularly fast. Perhaps the posted speed limit applies to them, and\n(unlike everyone else) they actually respect it.<\/p>\n\n

Notice how the taxi is stopped in the “keep clear for\nambulances” zone? I hate taxis<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

The big tree at the right was featured in the bunches-of-blossoms<\/a>\npost.<\/p>\n\n

Finally, I stopped<\/span> by the convenience store close to my place, and took\nthe following picture of an area near the sidewalk: short shrubs with a sea<\/span>\nof recently-bloomed pink.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a> Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17<\/span>-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm\n— 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 100 — full\nexif & map<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span> Sea of\nPink<\/span> <\/div>\n\n

These colorful blossoms are making themselves seen all around these\ndays. In fact, the first photo of the stroll an hour earlier was of the\nsame subject at a separate<\/span> location. I've had a lot<\/span> of flowers on my blog\nlately, and too many pictures vying for inclusion in this post, so only one\nlocation's sea of pink made the cut today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had to drop the car off for a checkup this morning, and decided to walk the mile or so back to my place. There's nothing particularly special between the car shop and home, but then again, it's fairly typical Kyoto, so I brought the camera along. My route was predetermined, but what I took pictures of was random....<\/p>

The elderly lady above was just crossing the street (Higashioji, at Nijo), perhaps on her way to the bus stop nearby.<\/p>

We'd had a fairly rainy day on Friday, and you can see where the river had risen a bit and [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474"}],"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=474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}