Tour of Japan | Samurai Experience

Apr 20 | Evan | No Comments |

After spending some time as a Ninja, I was able to stop by for a few minutes to check out the samurai experience being offered by the same group that introduced me to the Ninja Experience, IJCEE. The Institute for Japanese Culture Experience and Education has an office in Tokyo, but can help to arrange special experiences all over Japan, especially in Kansai area as well. I was able to meet with some of the staff in the Tokyo office for a brief time and since there was a Samurai Experience going on at the same time, I stopped in for a few minutes to see that and take photos. Like with the Ninja Experience, there was a master/teacher and a translator to handle the explanation and history. I think since I was there taking photos, they let their customer wear the traditional armor, so if you do this experience, not sure you can wear it or not!

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I could only stay for a little while, so I didn’t really see any of the action, but I’m sure there was some sword action and teachings about fighting/samurai culture and history.

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 | Kamikawa Angus Farm

Feb 15 | Evan | No Comments |

About 40 minutes by car from Sounkyo Onsen, and minutes away from Kamikawa Town, is an area famous for landscapes of hills and plains along with The Daisetsuzan Mountain Range in the background. The sun rises on the far side of the mountains and if you come here in the afternoon, the sun will set so that the light is hitting the mountains. As the title implies, there are also lot’s of angus cows grazing on the grounds but when we went, most of them were in other areas (it’s a big big space). On the Sounkyo Tourism page, they don’t have anything about the farmland but they do mention a new garden, “forest”/tourist attraction called the Garden of the Taisetsu Forest and a restaurant called Fratella di Mikuni which are literarily across the street from this landscape area. If you take a look at their website, not only can you see the menu/food but there is also information about staying in one of their villas. On their Facebook page, even if you can’t read Japanese, you can see lot’s of photos of the Daisetsuzan Mountain Range during various times of the year.

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When we were there, it was the restaurant’s day off and the garden/forest wasn’t finished yet, but the whole area is very pleasant and relaxing! As you can see, weather permitting, it also could offer some spectacular views!

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 – You are here!
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 | Sounkyo Ropeway

Feb 14 | Evan | No Comments |

The station for Sounkyo Ropeway is next to the visitor’s information center in Sounkyo Onsen and the “town center” which has most of the restaurants, small shops and convenient stores in the area. It’s kind of like a really small strip mall. Don’t expect too many choices, but you can find the standard ramen, curry, soba, udon and so on. The Sounkyo Ropeway consists of two levels, the cable car and then dual chair lift to go even higher. Stopping at the first level is probably good enough for most people and on the roof of the station, there is a nice observation deck offering spectacular views of Sounkyo Onsen area and other mountains of Daisetsuzan National Park.

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I recommend going either early in the morning (when these photos were taken) or for sunset. The general hours are from 6am – 7pm in the summer but different in the winter. You can check with your hotel or download the English Brochure PDF here to see more information, all hours during the year. If you can read Japanese, or want to translate the website, here is the Sounkyo Ropeway website.