Oh, deer – that was a truly awful pun in the title. Another beautiful spring day in Kansai, so I headed down to Nara on the Kintestu Line.  I’d been to Nara a couple of times before but not for a few years.  Saw a few familiar sights like Todaiji, […] Read more

Travel is a lot like life – there are guidebooks, but they’re no substitute for experience. The start of the Keihan Otsu Line is about 10 minutes away from Kyoto Station by train, but it feels much farther away.  And the relative lack of tourists – especially foreign – certainly […] Read more

Every day is special in Kyoto. Nothing too much to say about these – it’s just a collection of some odds and ends from the last couple of weeks in Kansai. There are some shots of Chushojima, the historic sake district in South Kyoto, as well as Uji (a return […] Read more

Two old haunts, seen in a new light (one in a new dark). Here’s some pics from yesterday’s excursion to Higashiyama.  I’ve been to both these places on many an occasion – Kiyomizudera is among my favorite places in Japan, in fact – but because Hanatoro is still going on, […] Read more

Not a rolling stone in sight. One thing I’ve definitely found out over the years is that weather is a huge component of photography.  It’s true even if you have the best equipment in the world, but if you’re skating by on the bare minimum, it’s even more of a […] Read more

The well of wonders runs deep in this town.  If you dropped a stone, I don’t think you’d ever hear it drop. I’ve said almost as much about Kyoto on this blog as I have about Hunter X Hunter, but I just can’t stop.  My feelings for the city are […] Read more

Another check-mark on the Kansai bucket list. I love whisky, and so do the Japanese.  If you don’t I doubt anything about this post will interest you much – though to be fair, Yamazaki itself is a lovely little town with canals and Shrines and water so good that Sen […] Read more

Spring?  Well, not quite – but we’re getting there. It’s an all-Shinto day today, with some miscellaneous Higashiyama shots sandwiched on either side.  And a chocolate-almond pancake from Cafe Rhinebeck pancaked in the middle. I’ve been to many Tenjin Shrines, including this one, Kitano Tenmangu (the head Shrine) but given […] Read more

The only constant in life is change. As you know if you’ve read any of my recent episodic posts, I’ve moved house recently.  This time it’s down to Kyoto, where the search for long-term employment in Japan continues (if anyone knows anyone and would care to introduce me…).  It’s hard […] Read more