365 Kyoto

May #223 In addition to my last post, I recommend looking at the...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 22:15:29 +0900

May #223

In addition to my last post, I recommend looking at the poster boys of Kamogawa to remind you of all the fun and jollity that can be had there.

May #222 One thing that I took for granted in Kyoto was the ease...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 21:27:53 +0900

May #222

One thing that I took for granted in Kyoto was the ease to meet people and just hang out. I’m sure all you avid readers of this blog will have noted the countless times I have mentioned Kamogawa (the main river in Kyoto). Well most evenings it was possible to venture down there and meet someone you knew for a drink and a chat. Alternatively you could just do down there to hear people playing music, juggling or in this case fire dancing. With the warm evenings it was even possible to sleep on the river banks until either first bus/train, or in my case a short stumble on foot back home.

Apr #221 Was this the final leaving do for Mr Morris? Probably...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 21:11:53 +0900

Apr #221

Was this the final leaving do for Mr Morris? Probably not, but it was his birthday, so it was time to don our Japanese birthday suits and whip out the novelty birthday glasses. While I was still studying at university and holding down a multitude of jobs, Andrew was bidding his farewells to Japan by travelling around the country and doing some volunteer work in the tsunami struck region of Tohoku.

Apr #220 One of the best things during my time at Cafe Frosch...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 21:02:44 +0900

Apr #220

One of the best things during my time at Cafe Frosch was that it was always a friendly, welcoming place, with the best international food that Japan could provide. The other thing was that there was lego in the form of a dinosaurs, carefully constructed by Takashi.

Apr #219 As April drew to a close it was time to say goodbyes...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 19:50:22 +0900

Apr #219

As April drew to a close it was time to say goodbyes and welcome fresh faces. This was from my housemates’ leaving do at Cafe Frosch. It was to be one of my places of work until I left Japan. It was certainly a good time to crack out the bubbly and share the awesome memories.

Apr #218 Huzzah. My hard drive appeared to have been broken and...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 19:02:00 +0900

Apr #218

Huzzah. My hard drive appeared to have been broken and it looked as if I had lost all my pictures from travels and for this blog. However, while still not perfect it is working for the time being. This is a great lesson to always backup your backup device.

Anyway, as cherry blossom season was slowly falling from view I wanted to get this picture on my cycle home from university. What made me take this picture here you may ask? Good question. Well I was looking through my previous pictures and I wanted to replicate one of the pictures, but take it at a different time of year to show you the contrast in the scenery throughout the year. If you see picture #50 and this one it will show you the difference between autumn and spring.

Apr# 217 So finally, after a week of teaching in Arashiyama, I...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:09:08 +0900

Apr# 217

So finally, after a week of teaching in Arashiyama, I felt satisfied that I had enough pictures of the cherry blossom and trains to feed the obsession. Every time I went home from here it took 1 hour of cycling (thank god the weather was perfect), but it really does show that you get result with perseverance. I wouldn’t say I was accepted by the other photographers, but then again they didn’t seem to like each other as well. I had my photos, the kids got their English lessons and you the reader got to see far too many pictures of trains.

Apr# 216 So I got some pictures, but they weren’t that...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:02:17 +0900

Apr# 216

So I got some pictures, but they weren’t that great. But 2 fingers up to the rival photographers, I had work the next day and that would mean I would be back. Muhahaha!

This time I had time (as I wasn’t planning to cook dinner until 7:30pm) and unlike a British female tennis player in the second round, I wasn’t going to go home defeated. Here was the best shot of the day. And later that night my boss called me and said that 2 little girls wanted another lesson the next day. I was going to show those old Japanese photographers that I was going to be part of their group.

Apr# 215 The next day I went to work in Arashiyama and cycled...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:50:02 +0900

Apr# 215

The next day I went to work in Arashiyama and cycled back cutting across the train tracks to check out the the hotspots. To my surprise here I found a throng (6-8 people that is) of photographers waiting to take pictures. It felt a little bit like stumbling upon a secret freemasons meeting, wondering whether I had uncovered a huge secret and whether I would be accepted in their train snapping group?

To answer my questions, no it wasn’t a big secret as their were kids on bikes cycling (and standing) on the train tracks and again, no, I wasn’t accepted into the photographers group as it became apparently clear that this was a territorial clan.

Not wanting to interfere I found my own secluded spot and patiently waited for the train.

To be continued

Apr# 214 I have a confession to make. I like trains. I always...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:38:07 +0900

Apr# 214

I have a confession to make. I like trains. I always have and I probably always will. For the last week of sakura season I had to work in Arashiyama whereas I before I was working in the hustle and bustle of the city centre. Cycling from university to work wasn’t that great, it was mainly downhill but you always had to be careful of the cars and more importantly other cyclists. (Yes, asians famously can’t drive, who knew that they also made awful cyclists). This week of work in Arashiyama was a breathe of fresh air from the exhaust fumes, but it was also spectacularly beautiful. While cycling to the new office I meandered around the little streets and met a man who told me that the railway line was the place to take photos of the sakura. Like every good photographer and cub scout, I came prepared.

To be continued.

Apr# 213 One of the things that surprised me about Ritsumeikan...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:17:33 +0900

Apr# 213

One of the things that surprised me about Ritsumeikan university other than it being quite small was the vibrancy of the colours throughout the year. Many would argue that educational settings need to be bright and cheerful to inspire creativity. Personally I am undecided on the opinion as the classrooms at the University of Kent were designed by the same person who designed Swedish prison (and let me tell you, it felt like a Swedish prison) and yet I still managed a 2:1. Ritsumeikan seemed to have taken this theory of beauty inspiring creation and applied it liberally to the surrounding areas. For myself this was great as it was a joy to lounging outside in the hot weather with picturesque views. Not a great motivating factor for going to class though.

Nevertheless, I didn’t realise until it had gone, the effort that had been made to ensure that the campus was attractive and presentable throughout the year.

Apr# 212 When life throws you a moment of greatness all you can...

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 05:19:31 +0900

Apr# 212

When life throws you a moment of greatness all you can hope is that there camera and someone with a youtube account. Sadly all the Japanese people who were recording us throwing a frisbee across Kamogawa river didn’t bother to upload. I know as I have checked the various tags that would be associated with a giant white man throwing a plate to another lanky white man. This was one of the photos though that did make the grade, before falling down the bank and tumbling into the river.

Apr #211 This one is for people who think that Japan is so...

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:35:43 +0900

Apr #211

This one is for people who think that Japan is so different to wherever they live (unless they are Japanese). Holy shit these people don’t only take their shoes off in their houses, but also when standing on tarpaulin sheets outside.

When I first came to Japan and my supervisor took me to my apartment I walked in all excited but with shoes on. She wailed something at me which me jump and run out while she chuckled (because Harada-san doesn’t giggle) away. After that I was constantly quizzed by her if I wore my shoes in my apartment. Once again the rule of ‘do what everyone else is doing in Japan’ applies if you don’t know whether you can wear shoes or not.

Apr #210 I think I have already said that I don’t really...

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 08:06:27 +0900

Apr #210

I think I have already said that I don’t really like taking pictures of people who I don’t know, but it was something that I needed to overcome if I was to take a series of natural shots. Luckily I caught this little boy (with the aid of his dad) jumping across the stepping stones over Kamogawa river with a nice long lens.

I really like this picture for two main reasons: firstly it was good to capture the action and concentration of the little boy and secondly, because I could see myself doing this when I was younger. Yes, this may well be the little Japanese version of me!

Apr #209 And it wouldn’t be right if you didn’t take...

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:58:45 +0900

Apr #209

And it wouldn’t be right if you didn’t take another picture of Kinkakuji (Golden Temple), but as I have already quite a few knocking around, when I went back I went for this one.

Apr #208 So before my parents left we had to go and view the...

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:45:05 +0900

Apr #208

So before my parents left we had to go and view the Golden Temple (even though I had just been there a few days before) and once again I decided to take some pictures. This time I got one right at the end. These little decorated wooden plaques are available to buy and you can write your messages on them and leave them for people to read, or for people to take pictures of.

Being the cynic I am I never did anything like this in Japan. I’m really not prepared to pay money to write my dreams and wishes, but as you can clearly see many people were. Some people just wrote their name, where they were from etc, while others seemed to use it as an agony aunt board.

Apr# 207 I once had a debate with someone that photos are...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 01:38:58 +0900

Apr# 207

I once had a debate with someone that photos are obsolete because of the video recorder. Obviously I was arguing with a moron who couldn’t differentiate between the two different types of media. However, if I could meet that person again I would use this photo as exhibit A.

What we have here is a moment of history that will be captured forever, something that I feel a video camera would miss. It simply would have glazed over the moment and wouldn’t capture the essence of the moment. For those who know Tomoko I’m sure you will be less reluctant to leave your beer with her now!

Apr# 206 As the weather got warmer it meant two things: firstly...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 01:26:52 +0900

Apr# 206

As the weather got warmer it meant two things: firstly that we all spent more time outside and secondly the wide kamogawa river shrunk in width and we were able to relax on the dried out bed.

In the foreground is my housemate Andrew and in the background a random Japanese person that overcame the fear of talking to foreigners to join in on this game. The object used was purchased on one of Andrew’s sojourns to Cambodia. It was shaped much like a badminton shuttlecock and behaved like a hacky sack. The game was simply keepy-uppy.

Apr# 205 April wasn’t just a time for looking at flowers...

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 07:00:26 +0900

Apr# 205

April wasn’t just a time for looking at flowers and enjoying the warm weather before rainy season, for me there was a new semester and placement exams. This being my 2nd semester meant that I didn’t really need to learn anything knew about the system and I could spend my hours staring at JJ’s hair. Frickin’ awesome.

Apr# 204 Another one of the cherry blossoms. This time with a...

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 05:50:28 +0900

Apr# 204

Another one of the cherry blossoms. This time with a lantern thrown into the mix for a bit of variation. The lantern to the right says 平野神社 (Hirano Jinja), jinja meaning shrine and Hirano is the name. This place is very famous in Kyoto for the fabulous cherry blossom trees. It really is an amazing sight. If you want to see the contrast I recommend you go back to photo Jan #113 and see the run down state it looks in for the remainder of the year.