Some Japan shots

El Kiwi

Sooo... recently, as part of a larger trip, I stopped in Japan to visit my brother. He's there on a scholarship for several years because he's about ten times smarter than I am! Anyway, it was the second time I've been to Japan to visit him, and I loved it both times. The people are much more friendly than I expected, the food is amazing, and, well, I hope to show you some small part of how beautiful it is.

He lives near Osaka, in Kansai, which is a great region. Within half an hour by train you can be in Kyoto, Kobe, or Nara, as well as of course Osaka. Kyoto and Nara especially have an incredible amount of history in a really small area. Unfortunately this trip was only about 5 days, but I managed to snap a few shots....

This is in Minoo, near Ishibashi where Bryn lives - there's a really nice walk through the woods going up to a waterfall. There are various temples on the way up, this is one tucked away in the forest.



I was lucky enough to go in autumn, when the Japanese maple leaves are turning. It's one of the two most famous tourist seasons in Japan, the other being the cherry blossoms in spring. It really is something worth seeing.



This is the Daibutsu at Tōdai-ji in Nara - pretty amazing. It's difficult to really show the scale of this thing in a photo, but it's 15 metres tall and weighs 500 metric tonnes! It's huge. It was completed in 751 and almost left the country broke - it required almost all the country's bronze for several years!



And this is one of his guardians. A mere 5 metres tall or so.



Japanese schoolkids having lunch - it's amazing how cute they are, and how well-behaved. I've never seen such orderly children. They always look really happy too.



Again on the walk to Minoo - the forests are simply incredible, really lush and dense, with tall straight trees. I'm from New Zealand, but I live in Spain which is almost totally barren. I really miss forests.



A glass umbrella outside a store in Kyoto. One thing I love about Japan is that their sense of design is amazing, the stores really make a huge effort to be pretty, and when you buy something it's always immaculately wrapped and presented. Beauty in the details....



A statue of someone famous, again with pretty leaves. This is in the Arashiyama district of Kyoto, one of the most famous places among Japanese tourists for seeing the maple leaves. I walked around here for a day with Maiko, Bryn's girlfriend.



A bamboo forest, also in Arashiyama.





Then, Kyoto by night. I can't remember the name of this district, but it's rammed full of tiny little restaurants.



Something to eat? The thing is, unless you have a handy translator, you have no idea what you're ordering....



And finally, of course... the main purpose of the trip - family. That's me on the left, my bro in the middle and his girlfriend on the right.



Pedants will note that this image is not technically very good, but they will also note that I don't care 'cos my brother features prominently :-) In my defence, I also didn't take it!

I can't recommend Japan enough. From a photography point of view, you can't fail - everything is so damn pretty that you just point and shoot and look like a professional. From a travel point of view, friendly people, easy transport, great food, and pretty cheap now too.

BTW I know there's supposed to be no C&C in this thread, but any suggestions gratefully received by PM, this was the first trip where I've really felt in control of the camera.

It's all good. I hope you enjoyed looking as much as I enjoyed taking them...

(edited following suggestion by Bodwick - thanks!)

jsedlak

El Kiwi wrote:

Looks like you had a great time! These two were my favs!

JenGrace

What a trip! Thanks for sharing these. :

SloYerRoll

Fantastic shots.
Glad you shared.
You were right in feeling that you had control of your camera!

jen_asmirian

The shots are Awsome. i had no idea how beautiful it was. wow..youve definatly inspired me to take a trip their some day.

El Kiwi

Thanks guys! I had a great time, and I was really happy with the way these came out.

dkoyanagi

Great photos!

El Kiwi wrote:

I tried taking this photo when I was there two years ago. I gave up after about 5 or 6 shots. It's almost impossible to capture the sense of scale of this statue.

El Kiwi wrote:

Then, Kyoto by night. I can't remember the name of this district, but it's rammed full of tiny little restaurants.

I wonder if this isn't Gion. I love Kyoto. It's so civilized.

El Kiwi wrote:

I can't recommend Japan enough. From a photography point of view, you can't fail - everything is so damn pretty that you just point and shoot and look like a professional.

Agreed! Japan is very photogenic. Thanks for sharing your photos.

Richard

Very nice series, Kiwi. I especially like the bamboo shots and the great color of the first shot. Must have been a fascinating trip.

Cheers,

Awais Yaqub

Great trip thanks for sharing such a beautiful country

schmoo

Beautiful work! Nice of you to give all the credit to the country but I still think there was some photographic talent involved here.

I hope to be in Japan sometime soon. I've seen many photos from people showing how busy and crowded it is, but yours have really shown the other side of things.

Derno

i LOVE the first shot, i always loved the japanese architecture its amazing

El Kiwi

dkoyanagi wrote:

Great photos!

Thanks!

dkoyanagi wrote:

I tried taking this photo when I was there two years ago. I gave up after about 5 or 6 shots. It's almost impossible to capture the sense of scale of this statue.

Absolutely. The light is tricky too... I picked this one out of about 40 I took, but it still doesn't communicate the scale.

dkoyanagi wrote:

I wonder if this isn't Gion. I love Kyoto. It's so civilized.

It's not Gion, but it's right across the river from Gion heading toward the centre of town.

dkoyanagi wrote:

Agreed! Japan is very photogenic. Thanks for sharing your photos.

My pleasure! I'm glad you liked them.

El Kiwi

rsinmadrid wrote:

Very nice series, Kiwi. I especially like the bamboo shots and the great color of the first shot. Must have been a fascinating trip.

Thanks! Japan is fascinating, it's so different to anywhere else, and it's a curious combination of really modern and extremely traditional. Fortunately since my brother will be there a while I have an excuse to go back!

El Kiwi

schmooo wrote:

Beautiful work! Nice of you to give all the credit to the country but I still think there was some photographic talent involved here.

*blush*

schmooo wrote:

I hope to be in Japan sometime soon. I've seen many photos from people showing how busy and crowded it is, but yours have really shown the other side of things.

There are certainly a lot of different aspects of Japan to show - I've never been to Tokyo, and Hokkaido is meant to have even more beautiful scenery than around Kansai. More places to go on the list...

pug8

You seemed to have packed a lot in a few days.
I live not far from Nikko, so I go up there occasionally...
The bamboo path is great!

Elaine

Loved seeing your pics...
My husband and I got to travel Japan for nearly 3 weeks in Oct 2000 and I loved it just like you did! My Daibutsu pics didn't turn out nearly as well as yours...it is amazingly huge! I believe the building that it is in is the world's largest wooden building. Congrats on your fantastic trip and wonderful pictures (my favorites from this series are the bridge and temple, statue and maple, bamboo path). Now I want to go back too!

Elaine

Seamus

fantastic photos,

pug8

There is a way of getting a sense of scale with pictures of the Daibutsu, and that is to include people in it. And the best time for that is around this time of year when monks clean it (I think it's yearly). The newspapers publish pictures of monks with brooms and cleaning cloths standing on the hand or hanging from ropes...

Phyxius

El Kiwi wrote:

I know, no C&C, but I wanted to tell you these are great! Glad you had a good trip and visit with your brother

El Kiwi

Thanks again for all the kind comments, folks! I'm pleased with these, so I'm glad you all like them too!

Furono

This is the outside of the building where that budda was, it's huge!!!!



Your thread has inspired me, nice pictures!

I'll be in Okinawa again tomorrow and plan on doing my first journey thread! Wish me luck.

LOVEphotos

Great Photos ... love the bamboo forest! ... I agree Japan is such a beautiful mixture of traditional and modern.

This year I spent two months there (Sept, Oct) ... traveled to quite a few places ... love the culture, people and coffee!

The people are so polite and open to other cultures ... a big contrast & welcome change from how rude americans can be sometimes.

BIG thanks for sharing

Shima

I've been to that same temple in Nara... I was there in March of 2005... I really want to go back to Japan, just can't get enough of the place (and I speak Japanese, I'd love to translate as a career) I only had a Kodak point and shoot at the time, I can't wait to go back with my DSLR sometime...

Amusingly enough I took this pictuure at a very similar angle to yours:



Any how... I think I really need to visit that bamboo forest you went to, looks pretty amazing. You took some fabulous pictures, thanks for doing my favorite place in the world justice!

Shima

dkoyanagi wrote:

Great photos!

I wonder if this isn't Gion. I love Kyoto. It's so civilized.

To put my reading skills to use: the lantern says "Hiroma" that doesn't imply it is or isn't Gion though... Gion looks very much like that, but it could be another district as well. Chances are though if you were given the proper tour of the area by your brother you were probably taken near / by Gion