One of the things I really appreciate about life in Japan is the railway system, in particular, the bullet trains or shinkansen (新幹線). It’s great to be able to jump on a shinkansen in Tokyo and be in Kyoto just two hours later. And last weekend, my wife and I did just that.

We caught a 6pm train from Shinagawa Station. By about 8:30 we were in our hotel room at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto swiping our way though an iPad app of tourist locations in the city.

My first trip to Kyoto was in July of 2004. We were driving from Gotemba to Iwakuni, a grueling 8-10 hour trek IF the traffic gods are smiling. They weren’t smiling and we ended up sitting in gridlock for hours.

In the middle of summer.
With no air-conditioning in the car.
And a baby in the back seat.

So naturally, we got off the highway at Kyoto to at least make something of the trip. We spent a few hours seeing the major sites, and then got back on the road. It was a short, impromptu visit.

Then in Nov of 2010, I had an opportunity to return to Kyoto to take engagement photos for Jason and May. It was a great trip and I got to see much more of the city then I did during the 2004 “accidental visit.” I was only there for one day though, and we had a very tight schedule. I promised myself that I would return without an itinerary and spend a slower day, really taking in a few locations and getting some nice shots.

So this time we ditched the kids with Grandma (thanks!) and headed down Friday night, with plans to return Sunday afternoon. I would have liked to stay longer, but already had a shoot lined up with Lucy for that Sunday. But at least we had all day Saturday to wander around.

The first place we visited was Fushimi Inari Shrine to see Senbon Torii, or “1000 Torii Gates.” This place is amazing and I wanted to get there before there were too many people walking around.

It’s a pretty long walk through the torii, at least 2 hours. There are actually a lot more than 1000. Depending on which taxi driver you ask the numbers range from 1300 − 2000. I guess there’s probably an official count somewhere, but I learn all my history from taxi drivers.

When we were about 2/3 of the way to the top a baseball team ran through. It’s a long uphill run with a few thousand steps. The Japanese tourists got out of the way and cheered the team on. It was interesting to think that a Saturday morning run through a place like this might be an every week thing for these guys.

From Senbon Torii we walked along a road through the forest and ended up at Toufukuji (東福寺). Toufukuji features one of the largest Zen Buddhist Temple gates in Japan. Amazingly enough, the place was absolutely deserted – a photographer’s dream come true!

From Toufukuji we took a taxi to Kiyomizudara (清水寺). It’s an impressive sight, but packed with crowds. Kyoto is funny like that. The very famous temples are crawling with tourists, but the lesser known places are absolutely deserted. From atop the hillside at Kiyomizudera you can see much of the city, including Kyoto Tower. I’m always fascinated by the visual juxtaposition of old and new, and tried to capture that feeling in this photo:

Walking through Kyoto, and looking at the photos afterwards, I found myself lamenting the passage of this more spiritual age. “Gone indeed are the days when men would climb a mountain, just to build a temple on top of it,” I mused. My wife had a different impression. “It’s just like now,” she said. “A few rich powerful men use a whole bunch of poor people to accomplish something.” Somethings never change. Those with power exploit those without, and men and women don’t see eye to eye. Go figure.

After lunch we visited Touji (東寺). In 2004, I took this photo of the 5 story pagoda at Touji.

I wanted to take the exact same photo from the exact same spot and tried to figure out where I’d stood 7 years earlier. I couldn’t quite find the spot, but I’m happy with the images I was able to capture.

As daylight waned we headed to Gion, a famous old shopping district in Kyoto. This is a really cool area and I found myself thinking “now THIS is Japan!”