PhotoGallery

After travelling through the United States, China, Thailand and Japan for the past few years, I find myself with a vast array of photographs from all over that are in danger of sneaking off into the far reaches of an attic somewhere.

In order to help my beloved pictures from meeting such a miserable and dusty demise, I have resolved to lay them out here in the Gallery section. I'll keep it separated by past and current travels, and there should be lots more to come...

Pictures from China (work in progress)

Pictures from Japan

The pictures from our first attempt to take it all in at Daigo. Bested by the mountain, and unable to see all the multitudes of temples and shrines in this World Heritage Site, we nonetheless managed to come away with some beautiful pictures and a lot of fun memories. So check out Daigo...our first attempt.	At long last...the pictures from our dinner in Kibune, North of Kyoto. At $12 a beer and costing about $80 each just to sit down, there was good reason for not being able to afford to develop the film for a while...but it was most definitely worth every penny (yen?).
Check out the pictures from my cousin Sam's visit to Kyoto's Kiyomizu Dera, Yasaka Shrine and Gion District. A fun day that had the rare treat of seeing the Maiko out in the streets.	Read all about the Hiroshima Peace Museum and the long trip by local train that brought us there. This was part of the trip that took us to Miyajima Island.
Daimonji-yaki, an ancient festival in Kyoto, was a spectacular peek into the traditions surrounding Japanese ancestor worship. Check out the slide-show at the bottom of the Daimonji-page...almost like being there!	Check out the pictures of Miyajima Island...famed as one of the most scenic places in the country. Also the site of one of the most ill-equipped camping trips I have ever been on. Nothing like eating cold noodles and Ritz crackers to survive...especially when you have to compete with the deer for your food.
Check out our hike from Kurama to Kibune. Hot springs, temples, shrines and dinner on the river with Kyoto's jet-set...also part of the reason why we barely had enough money left to develop this film. Kurama is also home to one of the stranger sects of Buddhism in Japan; the Kurama-Kokyo sect.	Built for the first of the mighty Tokugawa Shoguns, Nijo Castle is still a powerful presence in the heart of Kyoto. Just one year shy of its 400th birthday, Nijo Castle is also one of Kyoto's 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites, and is thus in the proud company of such beautiful sites as Ginkaku-ji and Kyomizu-dera.
These are the temples in your neighbourhood... Exploring the hills of Yamashina has turned up a hidden gem: Bishamon-do. Mere minutes from our apartment, this temple site dates back to the early 1100's.	A trip down Kyoto's Hozu gawa River brought us through some gorgeous country...which resulted in the first monkey sighting of our trip: a momentous occasion indeed! We saw plenty of wildlife as we headed down this old river in a traditional boat, travelling from Kameoka down to beautiful Arashiyama.
Pictures from a recent visit to the Chion-in temple in Kyoto. This temple is a reconstruction that was completed in the early 1600's; the original was built nearly 500 years before that. Find out more about the headquarters of Japan's Pure Land Sect of Buddhism	The Ginkakuji Temple in Kyoto. Originally intended to be plated entirely in silver leaf, the lord for whom the temple was built ran out of money part way through its construction. Later left in the hands of Buddhist monks in whose temple this beautiful structure was built, it is still called "The Silver Temple" despite its unmistakeably 'woody' appearance.Click here for more on Ginkakuji
Gion Festival (Gion Matsuri) 2002...washed out? Not a chance. The streets were filled with the faithful, and the parade was a sight to behold. After days of walking, exploring and eating more Takoyaki than is advisable, here is the scoop on this year's Gion festival.	Kyoto was the home of the Imperial Family of Japan for over 1000 years, and the Kyoto Imperial Palace - with its gardens and many treasures - is the very essence of the city.
See Kyoto's Kinkaku-ji Temple, a stunning building from Japan's Kamakura Era. Built in the 1300's and covered entirely in gold leaf, this is another UNESCO Heritage Site.	Ahh...the Path of Philosophy offers a beautiful escape from the vagaries of life, a small glistening oasis of serenity in an otherwise crazy world. There's a good noodle restaurant, too. Check out Tetsu-gaku-no-michi.
Kyoto's Jidai Matsuri gives a unique look at the city's long and colourful history. Check out the pictures of this parade, made up of over 2,000 people all dressed in period garb showcasing the various periods between Kyoto's designation as capital in 794 to its loss of the title in 1868.