Golden Myōgi

Mt Myogi is one of my favorite spots in Gunma. Located about an hour south west of me, the craggy eroded volcano reminds me a lot of the Rocky Mountains. It is one of the few local areas with nice rock formations. In fact, it is officially listed as one of three most noted areas of rugged beauty in Japan. Japan does love their lists. You may recall the Three Most Beautiful Gardens, or the 100 Places of Unique Smell. 

We started our loop at a small shrine on the east side of the mountain. It was actually pretty busy because we were there on a holiday, 3-5-7. Families bring their children to the shrine at those ages, 3 and 7 for boys and 5 for girls, to be blessed. We saw an adorable kid dressed in a suit with shorts. I suppose that is pretty excellent formal wear for a 3 year old.

Starting the hike proper, from the shrine you walk up a long, steep staircase that gets you up to the base of a tall pillar of rock. It is a pretty intense start, but it does gain you a lot of altitude quickly, and that is always to be admired.



A spur of the trail leads around the side of the spire and up to the top. Making it that far requires some rock scrambling with a bit of assistance from chains and an old metal ladder. The climb is easy enough with some care, but any fear of heights will be tested.



Unless you are this kid, who showed zero concern peeking over the totally sheer drop down to the shrine. I am a born rock hound and even I was sweating it a little bit from my vantage point. Bungee jumping sans bungee is not my idea of a good time! Though, to be fair, bungee jumping in and of itself is still not my idea of a good time.

Mt Myogi is one of the areas locally quite famous for fall leaves, which was one reason we made the trip. We timed it perfectly, this week and next are peak season for fall colors around here. The trail winds around and through rock arches and along narrow ridges that offer spectacular views of the north Kanto. It was a little hazy the day we were there, but I imagine that Tokyo would be visible if the day were clear enough. 

Fall in the Rocky Mountains

While I'm not quite finished with my epic chronicle of this year's tour of Europe, I figured I should take a quick detour to get caught up with my doings as of late.



Last weekend mom, dad and myself headed to the mountains to get a glimpse of this year's fall color. The aspen's were gorgeous along US 40, so we stopped there for a photo op.



Mom stuck around to paint for a bit, while dad and I went for hike a little further up the road. Winter is certainly coming soon, but for a while we will have a wonderful fall to enjoy.

Falling for fall in the Wine Country.

One Brightly Lit Temple

I have now been to Kyoto four times. I have been to Kiyomizu-dera three of those four times. This latest trip was sparked by Zach, who found that, like Kanazawa, Kyoto was lighting up one of their most famous landmarks. Always looking for an excuse to use my tripod I jumped at the chance to see the glorious view at night.



And it was glorious. Just walking around the etherially lit temple was a fantastic experience. The towering vermillion pagoda was brilliant in the flood lights. Above everything an eerie blue spotlight shone like a bright tunnel through the dark.



I needn't have bothered bringing the tripod though. To be sure, I needed it, but the crush of the crowd was too much. I never had the space or time to properly set up a night shot. I was forced to wing it with high ISO and a wide open aperature. I managed, barely. I took a whole lot of really, really blurry photos. Even the ones that came out are far from perfect. Even when I was steady as a rock, there was usually somebody kicking, shoving, pushing or just generally jostling me!



Despite that, it really was great. Fiona remarked that this was really beautiful and her favorite thing of the day. I'd say she spoke for everybody there. It was great.



A bit of background on Kiyomizu-dera. The temple was begun in 798 but the building there now date from 1633. The stage and main temple are built in the traditional style sans-nails. Think about that for a little while, especially in a country as earthquake prone as Japan! It is said that if you jump from the stage, and survive, your wish will be granted. Jumping is now prohibited, but heck its only 13 meteres or so, not really that far. Not that I'd be inclined to try it, thats for sure. Also, Kiyomizu-dera is up for inclusion of a New Seven Wonders list. Somebody got it in their head that since of the original 7 only 1 is left we need 6 replacements. There is a 21 'wonder' shortlist and Kiyomizu is on that list along with such sites as the Great Wall, Stonehenge, The Eiffel Tower and Neuschwanstein Castle.



I'll leave you with a bit of strange group photo. Notice I moved a little bit after the flash went off and got the lights of Kyoto cutting Zachs throat. Also we had lost Travis in the the crowd, so it's not quite the whole group. Oops!

Well there it is, Kyoto Fall '06. A good trip, even if the weather didn't cooperate.

Kyoto in Autumn

When I went to Kyoto last November I got some wonderful pictures, but there were a several shots that just didn't come out. Eikando had such amazing light, and my little point and shoot just wasn't up to the task. With a better camera and better skills, I hoped to go back and see what I could do to capture that light. Rather than go solo, I fell in with a pretty large group of people. Travis, Fiona (new, from Ireland, not the previous Fiona from England. Its all so complicated, even Zach was a bit confused.), Marie, Caroline, and the aformentioned Zach.



Sadly, while my camera was ready to capture the amazing fall foliage, the weather was not in a mood to cooperate. We were confronted with a grey, rainy, and generally miserable day! Our first stop was Sanjusanendo. While I have encountered the tallest wooden building in Japan at nearby Toji, here were had the longest wooden building in Japan. The long hall was filled with 1000 near life sized images, and one larger than life sized image, of the Buddist goddess Kannon. Interestingly enough, according to wikipedia, in the Edo period underground Christians would 'hide' statues of Mary by representing her as Kannon.

To my dismay, photography was forbidden inside, so no compelling images of the long, dusky, incense ridden hall of Kannon.



Our next stop was back at Eikando, which is one of the prime leaf viewing sites in Kyoto. Our trip was a little early for the spectacular golds, reds, and oranges of the Maple leaves, but there was still a plethora of other golds, reds, and oranges. The drizzle kept things a little subdued, but it also kept the famous Kyoto Crowds down.



This magnificent Heron buzzed us moments after I shot this photo. I tried to get a picture of him going by, but Herons moving at top speed are difficult to capture on film.







We left the beatiful leaves and made a beeline for a quick supper before the main event... the lighting of one of Kyoto's most famous landmarks, Kiyomizu-dera.

Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen at Night

In a celebration of fall, both the castle grounds and Kenrokuen were lit up last weekend. I had a bit of time on Friday, and so I rode over with my tripod for some good old-fashioned nighttime photography. It was a very pleasent evening, slightly chill but not overly so. Soft music was playing in the background, and the grounds were shockingly devoid of people. I didn't have as much time in Kenrokuen as I wanted as I had to get back to work, but I wasn't too disapointed as I have seen the gardens at night a couple of times already. However, this was my first trip to the castle at night.

Kenrokuen in Fall

The weather last week started out cold, but by Thursday it was warm and sunny again. I took the opportunity to go back to Kenrokuen for the first time since late spring. While the leaves hadn't finished changing yet, I was lucky and caught the gardeners putting up the rope 'tents' that protect the trees from the heavy Ishikwawa snow.

Mexican Temple

The news that a Mexican eatery had opened in Kanazawa hit the local English Teacher community like a burrito bomb. I would wager that most of the ex-pat population found themselves there at one point during the weekend. Except Paul. He went to Forus and had Korean and Sushi. Well, there's no accounting for taste.

Friday was a national holiday (Thanks Culture Day!), and so Anna, a slew of NOVA teachers, and myself decided to see, just how horribly wonderful our new favorite restaurant was.

The Menu is quite good, a wide selection of everybody's favorite Mexican dishes. Burritos, Fajitas, Tacos (Hard and Soft) and of course the Holy Grail, the combo plate. Combo #4, a cheese enchilada, chicken tamale, and beef taco, with rice and beans, was my first pick.

The Enchilada was cheesy but the sauce was weak. The tamale was ok, but tasted kind of... off. The taco was amazing, really great. The rice was fine, the beans really tasty, and the Margarita, if a bit on the pricy side, was awesome. Overall impression? Small portions and lack of true heat combined with medium high pricing keep it a special treat rather than a weekly staple. It was pretty typical of Japanese Mexican really, but honestly, its Mexican, and it is closer than Osaka. That's really all we ask for around here. Then again there is my impending trip home for Christmas. I can't wait to get my hands on some real Mexican cuisine! I'm sure it will blow my mind.

After that stomach busting lunch, two of the NOVA teachers, John and Gustav, Anna, and I cycled up to take photos of ANOTHER temple. Nestled in the hills above Kanazawa is Dionji Temple. (At least, I think thats what it is called.)












Nearby there is a small park that offers some pretty nice views of the metropolitan area, especially southern Kanazawa and Nonoichi. With sunset fast approaching we all cycled up from the temple and went into photo-overdrive.









On our way back into town we came upon this building under demolition. Who ever heard of starting on the bottom middle and working their way out. Don't you usually start at the top? Hmm very strange.