Photo Tour of Japan | Kokedera, The Moss Garden Temple in Kyoto

Mar 16 | Evan | No Comments |

Kokedera is one of my favorite places in Kyoto. The Moss Garden Temple, aka Kokedera or Saiho-ji, is on the outskirts of Kyoto and you not only do you have to make reservation far in advance by mail, the entry fee is 3,000 yen per person. Even though you do need a reservation for the Moss Garden Temple and that the entrance fee isn’t cheap, I can highly recommend Kokedera, especially during when the leaves are changing colors! To make a reservation, you need to send a special kind of postcard available in Japan called “ofuku hagaki” and include how many are in your group, preferred date(s) of visiting as well as a self addressed and stamped return postcard. You must make a reservation for Kokedera at least 7 days in advance but I recommend a month or more if you are going during peak season. Saiho-ji starts to accept reservations two months before your intended date of visiting the temple. If you want, I do provide the reservation service for Kokedera for $15 USD, please contact me for details.

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Accessing Kokedera is not as easy as other sites in Kyoto, but again, it is worth making the extra effort to get there! I recommend combining it with Arashiyama in the morning and having a early lunch at one of the many places close to Togetsukyo Bridge area before taking a short taxi ride to Kokedera. The Moss Garden Temple only opens to the public once per day, so your session will start at 1pm but you should be there at least 15 minutes early. When you arrive, you are invited to take place in a short service and sutra writing/chanting. For non Japanese, a paper is offered with the characters on them already so you can trace the sutra. You can do as much (or little as you like) of the writing, and after the service are free to explore the beautiful temple grounds. Even though tripods are not allowed and the lighting during the middle of the day isn’t the best, you can still make some beautiful photos at Saiho-ji. Below are a few more photos or you can also take a look here for more Kokedera Photos.

More from this photo tour of Japan is coming soon! Here is the list of the places we visited and photographed in Japan.

Shiretoko Five Lakes
Shiretoko Pass
Utoro Sunsets
Furepe Waterfall
Oshinkoshin Waterfall
Lake Akan
Lake Mashu
Lake Onneto
Sounkyo Onsen
Kamikawa Angus Farm
Ginga Waterfall
Lake Daisetsuko
Sounkyo Ropeway
Oobako
Blue Pond (Aoi Ikke)
Shirogane Falls
Moss Garden Temple (Kokedera) – You are here!
Bamboo Forrest in Arashiyama
Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji)
Nanzenji
Fushimi Inari Shrine
Portrait session with models in kimonos

Interested in your own custom photo tour and experiences in Japan? Contact Japan Photo Guide today to start your adventure!

Photo Tour of Japan | Blue Pond

Feb 22 | Evan | No Comments |

If you have a Mac, there is a good chance you have seen Blue Pond or Aoi Ikke before as it is one of the National Geographic photos is a desktop photo that comes with Mac OS. While I would love to visit this lake and Hokkaido in the Winter, we were visiting the Shirogane Onsen area in the fall. While technically it is in Biei, the Blue Pond is about an hour drive from Asahikawa and about 2 hours from Sounkyo Onsen. Whether you are coming from Sounkyo, Asahikawa or even Sapporo, I would recommend adding Aoi Ikke to your itinerary for Hokkaido!

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That being said, finding information about the Blue Pond in English, might prove to be a little harder than you would think! If you have time, I would recommend first stoping at the information center before making your way to Blue Pond as they can provide a map of the area that is helpful for exploring, hiking and just finding your way around. Here is the a link to the google map where the Blue Pond is located. There is no opening or closing time, so you can go as early in the morning you want to wait for that great morning light. On a clear day, you can also see the mountains of Daisetsuzan National Park.

More from this photo tour of Japan is coming soon! Here is the list of the places we visited and photographed in Japan.

Shiretoko Five Lakes
Shiretoko Pass
Utoro Sunsets
Furepe Waterfall
Oshinkoshin Waterfall
Lake Akan
Lake Mashu
Lake Onneto
Sounkyo Onsen
Kamikawa Angus Farm
Ginga Waterfall
Lake Daisetsuko
Sounkyo Ropeway
Oobako
Blue Pond (Aoi Ikke) – You are here!
Shirogane Falls
Moss Garden Temple (Kokedera)
Bamboo Forrest in Arashiyama
Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji)
Nanzenji
Fushimi Inari Shrine
Portrait session with models in kimonos

Interested in your own custom photo tour and experiences in Japan? Contact Japan Photo Guide today to start your adventure!

Photo Tour of Japan | Lake Onneto

Feb 01 | Evan | No Comments |

Lake Onneto is about 25 minute drive from Lake Akan and part of Akan National Park. While it isn’t as famous with tourists as some of the other lakes in the area like Lake Mashu or Lake Akan, it certainly should be! Lake Onneto is a much smaller lake than Mashu or Akan, and while our timing wasn’t perfect and the weather and light didn’t fully cooperate, I’m sure you can see why I am a fan of Lake Onneto.

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We went both in the evening for sunset and once in the morning for sunrise. If we had more time there, it would have been nice to go to Lake Akan once for sunset as I’ve heard sunsets are suppose to be great there. Maybe next time!

More from this photo tour of Japan is coming soon! Here is the list of the places we visited and photographed in Japan.

Shiretoko Five Lakes
Shiretoko Pass
Utoro Sunsets
Furepe Waterfall
Oshinkoshin Waterfall
Lake Akan
Lake Mashu
Lake Onneto – You are here!
Sounkyo Onsen
Kamikawa Angus Farm
Ginga Waterfall
Lake Daisetsuko
Sounkyo Ropeway
Oobako
Blue Pond (Aoi Ikke)
Shirogane Falls
Moss Garden Temple (Kokedera)
Bamboo Forrest in Arashiyama
Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji)
Nanzenji
Fushimi Inari Shrine
Portrait session with models in kimonos

Interested in your own custom photo tour and experiences in Japan? Contact Japan Photo Guide today to start your adventure!

Photo Tour of Japan | Oshinkoshin Waterfall

Feb 01 | Evan | No Comments |

After our final morning in the Shiretoko Peninsula and on the way to Akan National Park, we made a brief stop at Oshinkoshin Waterfall. The waterfall is about 15 -20 minute drive from Utoro and is very easily accessed as there is a parking lot next to Oshinkoshin Waterfall. You can see the waterfall from the road and parking lot, but there are also some stairs here to climb if you want to get closer to it. Opposite the waterfall you can see a nice view of the Sea of Okhotsk.