Japan Photos !

RaymondLin

I have been back for over 6 weeks now and the photos are almost done so I thought i would start posting some.

I will begin with the order of the places I visited starting from Fukuoka, this is a screenshot of the GPS tag from my camera.

Day 1

Fukuoka

Lands at 4:30pm, I only came here for the Ramen….and I wanted to start off somewhere south and work my way up and see Japan, what better place than the birth of tonkotsu ramen?

So I landed, then check in and went out for dinner for Ramen.

I also had a little mishap with the sim card so had to venture out about a mile on foot to BIC camera, took some photos along the way.

Day 2

Morning I went to a local Shrine, just to explore the place a little, I forgot the name but I googled Shrine in Fukuoka and it happened to be walking distance away so I went to see it and then left on the Shinkansen to Hiroshima.

This is partly how the streets are so clean….the leaves cleaning crew…

RaymondLin

Day 2 Cont.

At around 11am I went on the Shinkansen, I think I got to Hiroshima in about 90mins, then put my suitcase into a locker in the station and went to get the train to the ferry.  700yen for all day for the large locker which is the standard price.

Miyajima has deer, free roaming, friendly deer, who knew?!

I timed my visit so the tide came in.

RaymondLin

Day 2 Cont.

I got back to Hiroshima and checked into my hotel around 8pm.  Went to find Okonomiyaki.

I made some friends who were musicians on tour and we walked around the city a bit.

My view of from my room.

RaymondLin

Day 3

Hiroshima

Morning I went to the War Memorial and Museum for the WW2 bombing and then I went straight to the Shinkansen to Osaka.

Breakfast was a traditional Japanese style.

Then about half a mile walk to the Museum, I was obsessed with these power lines….they are everywhere, for a place that is SO clean, this is quite an eye sore but I kinda like it.

On the train it is tradition to get one of these Bento boxes.  I wanted some Unagi.

Meticulous in their detail!

Whilst on the train the tannoy said "next stop, Kobe" and it was about 2pm…..hmmmm Kobe…beef?  So I got my stuff, jumped off the train, put it in a locker and went in search for beef.  I never planned to go to Kobe.

Kobe

Saw a shrine and I went to check it out.

Osaka

Afterwards I got back on the train to Osaka, checked in first and head out for Okonomiyaki, Osaka style.

Then I went to the Umeda Sky building (I think) for the view at the top, which happens to be close by.

Then I went to Dontoburi and had some Takoyaki.

I wanted to get "the world's 2nd best ice-cream"…that is their actual tag line, but it was sold out!  The guy before me had the very last one on the day !!!!

You will see Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean in a lot of tourist friendly places.  So you will get all 4 languages in terms of menus.

RaymondLin

Day 4 (morning)

Osaka

In the morning I didn't have long as this hotel I stayed at had a check out time of 10:30am or something silly early.  Luckily it is next to the Osaka Castle so I went to visit in the morning before going to Nara for the afternoon.  It was a really brief visit and all in all I was in Osaka for less than 18 hours really.

Day 4 To Be Cont.

RaymondLin

Day 4 Cont.

Nara

Arrived in Nara via a local trains, no Shinkansen for this trip.  It was only about 30 mins from the station near my hotel, much more convenient than trying to go to the main station in Osaka and change.

Nara is famous for a few things, but the deer park is one of them, and the other is allegedly the world's larges wooden building (temple), it's structure has not a single nail.

Japan is not all concrete, there were lots of fields like these.

This picture is actually to show how every vehicle in Japan is spotless.  I can zoom in this photo, the bike looks like it just came off the factory 2 mins ago.

I was short of time so instead of lunch I just grabbed these at a "french" bakery.  But being Japan, it adds a twist, curry doughnut anyone? It's amazing.  Then I had a mochi sweet thing with red bean paste inside.

Found somewhere that sold Tayaki !

I left Nara around 5pm to Kyoto

Day 4 (evening to be Cont.)

RaymondLin

Day 4 Evening

Kyoto

So I picked up these Gyozas and Shui Mai on my way to my hotel, they come hot but they also come gift wrapped…oh Japan !

By this point it was quite late, so after I checked in I went to Gion to check it out and hopefully see a Geisha.

Day 5

I got up at 6:30am today, because I wanted to climb Fushimi Inari without the crowds.

p.s.When you see a photo of Fushimi Inari, if you see writing on the Toril gates, it is facing downwards/going back out.  On the way up you don't see the writing.

You get a nice view of the city

When I got back, it was packed

Day 5 to be Cont.

RaymondLin

Day 5 Cont. Kyoto.

After grabbing some street food I went to a temple before heading to Kiyomizu dera and decided to walk a part of the way.

Notice that all the trash left outside and covered in nets, to keep them together?

This photo is purely because I walked passed a primary school and outside were parked all these unicycle…a school for clowns?

One thing you have got to remember is that if you see people dressed like this, they are 99% likely to be tourist.

You can see the Pagoda quite a way away.

Time for lunch and I had ramen.

The cleansing ritual, left hand, right hand, then rinse mouth (spit).

The legend has it that if you can walk between 2 of these stones with your eyes shut, you will find love (or wish come true).

I was rather disappointed that the main structure was under refurb, it just means i have to go back!

3 streams of water, each has a different meaning, and you are meant to just do the cleansing with just 1 and your wish will be granted.

Made a friend and went to get some tea.

Then walked around the local area a bit which is super touristy !!!!

It has the world's best Starbucks lol

Then set off to Nijo castle but it was closed when we got there.  Google Maps gave direction to a bus.

Then went to a local famous market call Nishiki market where lots of street food to be had.

Then walked around a bit more and ichiran ramen then home.

Day 6 tbc.

RaymondLin

Day 6. Kyoto

Can't believe I still have more than a week to go at this point lol I actually thought that at the time as well as first day in Tokyo was my mid way point and I am still a couple of days away.

Today was a big day, my last full day in Kyoto so I wanted to go to all the top world heritage sites before I leave.

First stop, Arashiyama - bamboo grove.  Got there at 7:30am.

A lot of Youtube videos will show this river when they do a vlog on the area, so naturally I went there to but the Bamboo grove is the opposite direction from the train station!

Time to leave, I think it was about 9am at this point

Next stop is one of the Zen gardens

Fall colours.

They say, you can only see 14 of the 15 rocks here at any one time, you need to achieve enlightenment before you can see the 15th rock.

Kinkaku-ji

This place is full of tourists, any time of the day.

inhaling or putting the incense smoke to your head is meant to purify the body and the mind so you will see a lot of people doing this flapping motion with their hands.

Got a Niku bun (Niku means meat), this one is chicken

Tourists

Nijo Castle, supposed to the the best kept castle from the Edo era, during the height of the Shogun and Samurai.  Most of these temples forbids photography inside.

Then lunch, this is where I took a photo of the plastic food and then show it to the lady.  I wanted some cold Soba noodles.

Then on the way to Ginkaku-ji I found this, its a match cream (or ice cream or custard) filled warm bread.

Ginkaku-ji

This is attention to detail, he is tending the grass? moss? lawn ?

Right outside is the Philosopher's Path, would be much better during Sakura season as it is all surrounded by them. No so pretty in the fall, especially when most of the leaves have fallen.

Local housing and side streets

Then took the bus back to main station, this is now around 5pm

Parfit time! This cost 1000 yen, worth every penny.

Kyoto Tower time

The light beam is Kiyomizu-Dera temple

Then finish of with a meal at a conveyor belt sushi place, waited 45mins in the queue but it was underwhelming.

Day 7 tbc.

RaymondLin

Day 7 (we are half way !!!!)

Kyoto - Hakone

This is mostly a travel day, because I had to get 2 trains.

I have a couple of hours in the morning so I walked to To-Ji Temple from the hotel, this is the tallest Pagoda in the world, this is also the wettest day i was there, which was lucky really, it has been sunshine pretty much the rest of the time.

Breakfast before leaving

Curry doughnut with egg!

Onwards to Hakone!

Some snacks when i arrived.

 7 course Kaiseki dinner.

They do mix up the L and the R, even when its written down.

Then my own onsen

Day 8 tbc.

Moominpapa

Some great pictures here - thx for posting!

joeyowen

Awesome!

stickyfiddle

Fantastic pics. Brings back great memories that we’re hoping to add to later this year. 

You did very well to get Fushimi Inari with so few people in shot. That was completely impossible when we went.

What lens are you using for the leaves (just after the bamboo shots)? I love those pictures. 

ourmaninthenorth

Extraordinary work.

Thanks for putting 'em up. 

RMJ

Yes but did you meet Eddie Honda? JAPAAAAN!

rocktron

Excellent pictures. Thank you.

What gear did you use?

With reference to the motor-cycle - I believe the Japanese MOT is called Shaken. It is much stricter than the UK MOT and many owners sell their vehicles rather than pay a lot for it to pass the Shaken. Many of those vehicles are still in very good condition and are sold in auctions to foreign importers as "Grey Imports".  

RaymondLin

Moominpapa said:

Some great pictures here - thx for posting!

Thanks, there's more to come!

joeyowen said:

Awesome!

Thanks Joey.

stickyfiddle said:

Fantastic pics. Brings back great memories that we’re hoping to add to later this year. 

You did very well to get Fushimi Inari with so few people in shot. That was completely impossible when we went.

What lens are you using for the leaves (just after the bamboo shots)? I love those pictures. 

I got up at the crack of dawn to make sure I was the first ones there.  There were people, but not enough so to get a clear shot I just had to wait a few seconds until they are out of the shot.  

I took most of them with a anon 35L mkII.

rocktron said:

Excellent pictures. Thank you.

What gear did you use?

With reference to the motor-cycle - I believe the Japanese MOT is called Shaken. It is much stricter than the UK MOT and many owners sell their vehicles rather than pay a lot for it to pass the Shaken. Many of those vehicles are still in very good condition and are sold in auctions to foreign importers as "Grey Imports".  

5D IV with 35L 1.4 mk2, Sigma 50/1.4 Art and Canon 85/1.2 L 

Most of them are with the 35mm.

With regards to cars, I know, I looked it up too.  But it doesn't explain how they are so clean.  Mechanically sound, yes but how do they keep it so clean ?  If I don't wash my car for a week, you can visibly see dust on the arches, bottom 12 inches of the bodywork.  In the 2 weeks I was there, every car are spotless, like they are out of the showroom but I did not come across any car wash places, or anyone washing their cars.  Everything from cars, buses, cement trucks are spotless.

I mean, look at it, it is showroom clean.





The container it is carrying is more dirty than the truck itself.

Arktik83

Stunning photos, thanks for sharing!

BRISTOL86

Superb photos. Pomegranate Jerry made me literally laugh out loud. If I ever start a band I’m calling us that  

MtB

Wonderful photos. We have a lot to learn from them in terms of cleanliness of the streets and respect for the countryside. They seem to have a pride in their country that just doesn't exist here. 

Emp_Fab

Excellent pics Sir.  I'm very intrigued by this 'hyper-clean vehicle' thing.  Would the streets being so clean have anything to do with it ?