Nightime Foliage

Yeah yeah I know. That has got to be the worst ever name for a webpage. It seems I am getting less and less adept at translating concepts into English. Definitely time to get back to the motherland for an English refresher course!

The city of Kyoto called us back again this year to see the leaves changing colour. The temples here have some splendid foliage, and they always pack a crowd, even at night when the trees are lit up with spotlights from below.

This year we visited two temples to see their special light-up. Eikando proved to be quite beautiful, with lots of paths through the gardens. I discovered that taking photos at night requires not only great skill, but also very steady hands. These are a few of the photos we managed to take.

Chion-in is the other temple we visited. It boasts the largest gate in Japan. I think it's the kind of thing that can't be done justice by a photo. I seriously am obsessed with the beauty of the construction of such gates, though. Thousands of interlocking wooden beams with no nails or other support involved. They are truly magnificent to look at.

This is one of the temples on the grounds of Eikando.

This was perhaps the most atmospheric aspect of Eikando. As we strolled through the wood, we could hear the haunting music of bamboo flutes and other instruments I can't identify. Finally we came upon this arched bridge where the (musicians? priests?) were playing.