Very delayed... Some Koko-en Photos~!

Whew! I've been so busy the past two months I haven't had any time at all to upload my photos! ごめんなさい！！I'll do my best to catch up on things this week. All the photos are processed and ready to go, I just have to sit and be patient with the still-abysmally-slow upload times.

Anyways, the Koko-en in Himeji is still as lovely as ever! I made a couple trips there over the last two months, and here's a roundup of the best of the photos. The trick to the Koko-en, as ever, is to get there right when it opens so as to avoid the worst of the crowds. Otherwise, patience is required to wait until an area clears up of tourists just long enough to snap a scenic photo.

The main building over the main pond. It's actually quite photogenic at the right angle!

I have no idea what kind of fruit this is. It was growing on a tree and it looks pretty, at the least!

Sometimes the paths can be quite dense in some of the sub-gardens, and I always enjoy this part because it always seems empty of anyone besides me and some overeager koi fish.

It had just rained the night before, so this daisy was still fresh with dew. Definitely the best time to photograph the garden is in the early morning the day after a rain. Clear skies suit flowers rather well!

This photo was taken before full autumn had truly begun, but it's still stunning nonetheless! And yes, this is still within one of the sub-gardens at the Koko-en.

There was a pair of beautiful lilies blooming in an out-of-the-way corner of one of the sub-gardens. It was my first time to see some blooming in the "wild" and not cut in a vase.

With such clear skies, I couldn't resist getting a photo of the unboxed castle! Alas, now some of the sub-buildings are getting their much-deserved turn at renovations. One day, I'll fully enjoy the castle with no pesky scaffolding in my way!

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Autumn Leaves and Castle Cats

Here's a bunch of long overdue photos from the last two weeks! The autumn leaves have been absolutely stunning! The mountainsides are turning all sorts of colors, which makes them even more stunning than usual. I did my best to photograph the one that you can see from Shirasagi's garden, which is right outside of my apartment. The leaves are finally starting to fall from most of the trees these days, but the colors were beautiful while they lasted! Below are a bunch of photos of the bike paths next to the Himeji Castle Moat, which were surrounded by trees in stunning shades of red and gold. This is definitely the scenic route to get to downtown in Himeji! Unfortunately, I'm still not quite sure of all of the twists and turns through neighborhoods that it involves to get to the back entrance of this pathway, but once I'm on it I can orient myself via the castle. This area is always full of joggers, bikers, and... cats. Stray cats, for t...

Cherry Blossom Season at Nagoyama Temple!

I haven't been to Nagoyama Temple in awhile, but today was a beautiful sunny day, and since it's about 10 minutes away by bicycle, I couldn't resist! Nagoyama is absolutely stunning during cherry blossom season! I know everyone crowds into Himeji Castle for cherry blossom viewing, but I definitely think Nagoyama's cherry trees are of comparable beauty; perhaps some might find the idea of flower viewing in a cemetery depressing, but wow, this is probably the most beautiful cemetery I have ever seen! Also, there were cats everywhere. Would they be considered temple cats or graveyard cats? Can you spot Himeji Castle (in its scaffolding)? The cemetery extends for quite a ways around the main temple, and there were cherry trees everywhere! A small garden nestled between the hills of graves. You can see the city stretching out behind it! I love how, at certain angles, the main temple seems to float above a sea of cherry trees. ...

Scarecrows and Swordsmen Make for an Exciting Weekend!

This weekend I had two consecutive day trips! On Saturday, November 9th, I went to Aioi to watch a swordsmith make a katana and viewed the Scarecrow Festival; I also went on a bit of a hike, and visited an art museum! Aioi was about an hour away from Shirasagi by car. It was at a higher altitude, so it was a bit chilly in the morning. Once the sun came out, though, it got much more comfortable! The autumn leaves were absolutely stunning; there's nothing quite like seeing mountainsides dotted with colorful trees! The entrance to a main area of Aioi. The view from the window of the smithy. The swordsmith at work! He was a junior apprentice, which meant he had to do all the work himself, using this machine to pound the steel. Apparently the grand masters are allowed to have apprentices pound the steel manually for them. A pond outside the smithy! A watermill fed into it. An ivy-covered house! Starting a hike to view a shrine in ...

Daley-sensei's Adventures in Himeji, Japan.

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