Kinkakuji: Golden Temple

Also during Golden Week, fittingly I traveled to Kyoto to see Kinkakuji, or the Golden Temple. This picture here is the a very common angle; however, most pictures of Kinkakuji are taken in the winter.

Here is a not-so-common angle of the temple.

Here are some nearby trees.

Here are some stairs. Besides, the Temple itself (which people are not allowed to enter), there is not a lot to see there.

Here is a small waterfall, and a couple signs.

Here is a lantern, a sign and a rock at which people throw money.

Here is a separate shrine down the path from the temple.

At that shrine, people can spend 100 yen on a fortune. When I saw that they had English, I bought one, and it gave me an "excellent" fortune. I wondered if they all said that.

Sakura, Sakura, Kyoto

Last week, I also had the chance to go to Kyoto with my friend, Tomomi. As we found, there are some streets in Kyoto which are lined with Japanese Sukura or cherry blossom trees.

Here are some Sakura overhanging the street.

Please bear with me, as Tomomi did. I took many pictures of the Sakura.

As you can see, some of the Sakura blossoms are white.


Others are pink.


These Sakura are on the way to Maruyama park, which is like a Sukura hub.


Here is a wide-shot from along the road.


I like how in this shot the Sakura seem to cascade into the water.


There were many people taking pictures of the Sakura that day. Also, it rained a little bit. Here is a picture of someone taking a picture in the rain.


Here, he is reviewing his shot.

This is a shot outside of Maruyama park.

Here is a gate inside Maruyama park.

Here is the large tree in the center of the park. That day, we saw a TV crew at the park. They told me that they were from the BBC taping the Sakura.


Here is a shot from the road back to the station.

Outside the station there was an elderly man selling kittens.

If that kitten looks cranky, it is probably because it is jealous of the two other kittens fast asleep right in front of it.

I guess the time at which we went was a little early in the season, so that means I will probably go back, and there will probably be more Sakura pictures...