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Japan trip
Day 7 - 12th June - Kyoto, Amanohashidate (Part 1)
I spent 3 times as long in Japan as during the Hokkaido trip, spent about the same amount of money, saw a lot more and enjoyed myself much more. Tours suck.
A few of the sights in Kyoto require the permission of the Imperial Household Agency to visit. I didn't want to bother going down, not least due to my limited time and there being so many other things to see. After coming back I found out that you could apply online. Stupid Lonely Planet (unless you couldn't in 2006). Oh well, next time.
For today, I had planned Amanohashidate - one of the Nihon Sankei (Three Views of Japan). It's a sand spit that is the "Bridge of Heaven". The express train there didn't leave so early so I had time to visit another temple first.
Many elementary school boys walk around in trousers.
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Fire station. Notice the wooden building in the background, half a block away. Very convenient if it burns down.
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Hongwanji information plaque
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Entrance gate
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Unfortunately, like half the cultural buildings in Japan, Hongwanji was under renovation when I visited it. Oh well, something for next time.
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Main hall (IIRC)
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Hongwanji's Scripture Repository, and blurb
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World Heritage Plaque
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Carvings at side of one roof
Happily, photography was allowed inside. I was so happy I donated some money to them.
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Altar
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Lantern
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Paper (?) Wrapping (?) for beams
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Praying. Don't ask me why the schoolgirls were there at 8:30am (presumably it wasn't a school trip)
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Wooden plaques. These seem to indicate various institutions.
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Exit
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Conflicting renovation notices (and obviously they'd overrun)
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Karamon
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Another stitch. You can do a HDR if you want.
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Overhead bridge
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Tower hotel
The Kyoto Train Station was a work of wrought steel.
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The Limited Express Hashidate 1 - my ticket away from this place (for the day).
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Stream seen on the way there
I started out at the town on the southern end of the sand spit.
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Map of Amanohashidate
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Drying fish
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Mr Tako is very happy to be eaten (something similar to, but not as cute as this is already on the Flickr pool: Scary beings eating themselves. I added this and the next.
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Takoyaki stand. They claim they're famous for takoyaki. Pfft. And presumably the stall owner uses the female octopus puppet to catch the males.
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Drying octopuses. They look bizarre.
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Drying seafood. Notice the fan - the sun presumably isn't enough.
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Shore