Autumn in Kansai

Autumn in Kansai November 2016

I hope I can be the autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived. And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift. — Dodinsky

This has been a long awaited trip, I was planning to experience the first Autumn in Japan since late last year. Kyoto came up on top of my list due to the fusion of man-made treasure and nature made weather. We spent 7 days in Kansai and traveled from Kyoto-Kobe-Arima-Osaka. It was my first time in the island of Kansai, and I have to say that it was absolutely lovely.

Welcome to Kyoto.

The first temple that we visited was Kiyomizudera, the temple of clear water.

The autumn morning call.

Herons are beautiful, elegant birds that portrayed in Japanese art to signify patience.

For the next stop, we took the local train to Fushimi Inari, a shrine based on Inari Mountain famous for it endless Torrii (the red gates) each of them signifying the donating family. Another famous icon aside from the Torri are the statue of foxes holding different sacred item in their mouth.

It was hard to find a photo spot without someone behind, but the higher up we went , the less people we saw.

Light hitting the wanderers of Fushimi Inari.

Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped by Gion, a famous walking district from the dated history. There I took a shot of this couple in rented Kimono walking in the nostalgic alley.

The third place that we visited was Tofukuji, the beautiful merger of red maple leaves and classic Japanese architecture.

Day 2: Arashiyama

The Bamboo Path of Arashiyama

We took the Hankyu train toward Arashiyama, one of Tokyo close neighbor famous for its bamboo grove and the colorful autumn national park. We wanted to get there early to catch the first morning light and a less crowded path, however there were may people by the time we got there.

Arashiyama is most famous for its autumn scene, however the bamboo grove and little details along the way are worth checking out.

The Morning Walk at Arashiyama Bamboo Path

The Timeless Pond of Tenryuji

Our Third Visit, the long walk to Adashino Nenbutsu-ji kept it less crowdy and turned out to be the most charming temple of all.

The son came out pretty strong midday, after 2 temples and 2 bamboo path, we walked to the iconic bridge to see Arashiyama color along the river. There were rental boats that you could take, however with the hard light and super cold weather, we decided to head back to Kyoto for the evening light at Ginkakuji

Ginkakuji (The Golden Temple) Entrance: This is one of the most iconic temple in Kyoto.

Here's a shot of the famous Ginkakuji temple, around blue hour. It was super crowdy, too bad there's no tripod allowed and the walking path flows one direction. I should have stayed at this angle for the twilight ! Anyway, it was a really beautiful evening.

Little beautiful details inside Ginkakuji. An evening well spent.

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Ping Onganankun

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Autumn in Kansai November 2016

The Bamboo Path of Arashiyama

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