Outside the Kinkaku-ji Palace (Golden Palace), Kyoto, Japan

I really think Japan is a photographer's paradise. There are so many things to take photos of! Walking to the magical Kinkaku-ji Temple (the Golden Temple), mostly surrounded by water, we passed by glistening autumn trees, with leaves carefully fallen atop the green grass. The sun was bright and it's rays shined through the spaces between the trees.

Shibuya Intersection Crossing by Night, Tokyo, Japan

This is the huge Shibuya intersection in its true form. Just as the green light to walk lights up, hundreds of people cross all throughout the intersection. It can go quickly from a scattered mass of people to an empty intersection, ready for the cars to enter it. You just have to see it in person. Saturday night in this area - that's where the people are at!

Floating Torii (Gate) to the Itsukumisha Shrine, Miyajima, Japan

As a gate to the Itsukumisha Shrine, this red torii (gate) is an iconic image of Japan. As soon as we got to the Hiroshima train station from Kyoto, we saw signs leading us to Miyajima. We just couldn't resist, so we followed the directions and took a 30-minute train ride to the ferry port, where we took a 10 minute ride to the island of Miyajima. Since it was at high tide, it seemed as if the gate was floating on water. When it's low tide, the area around it is muddy sand, so that you can even walk to it. It was lovely!

Dotonbori River, Osaka, Japan

Running just parallel to the main street of the Dotonbori area, is this river with busy bridges crossing it. We walked along the river and saw these great reflections, continued on and made a left to go to an amazing nightlife area in the city of Osaka. A thirty minute ride from Kyoto, I was glad we stayed until night because I saw the bright lights and active nightlife that the Japanese partake in. Wonderfully lively part of Japan!

Back in Los Angeles now. I loved Japan!

Buddha Statue, Sensoji Temple, Tokyo, Japan

This was a Buddha statue outside of the Sensoji (Asakusa Kannon) Temple within Tokyo. To walk to this statue, we went through a long street of vendors and stores and through a large red torii gate. It was definitely a packed area with people swirling throughout the Asakusa area.

Within the Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan

I have seen photos of this before, but didn't realize we had walked right past it on the way to the Tokyo Imperial Palace until I took a second glance. Went inside the building, and it had this amazing intricate architecture. We walked up a couple levels and I took this shot with reflections of the roof on a glass ledge. It is a concert and exhibition hall. This building was completed in 1996 by Rafael Vinoly, an architect born in Uruguay, but currently living in the United States. The inside is a design of glass and metal, representating the shape of a ship.

Day 8: Tokyo, Japan to Vancouver, Canada, to Los Angeles, California, USA

Oh, how I appreciate a great public transportation system! Throughout Japan, the network of shinkansen (bullet trains), local subways and local buses are a great way to get basically anywhere. Moving between cities, it took me the initial few minutes to understand the system for each city, but after that, getting around was a breeze. Sure, I had to constantly hold a little rail map, but it worked out for us and we got around just fine.

This is a photo of the Yamanote Loop Line going throughout central Tokyo, stopping at familiar stops like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Tokyo, and Ueno.

At Vancouver waiting to take the flight to Los Angeles!

Day 7: Tokyo, Japan

Woke up at the crack of dawn (well, it was actually still dark out when we left the apartment) and made our way to the Tsukiji Fish Market. They start early and by the time we got there, we missed out on the auction but were still able to peruse the selection from the fishermen. There were fish (HUGE ones as seen in the picture), crabs, lobster, clams, oysters, shrimp and anything else you can think of that falls into the seafood category.

This is a photo of one of the fisherman (pointing at me?) and the MASSIVE frozen fish. Right across the street, we had sushi - can't get more fresh than that!

For the rest of the day, we took a ferry to Akasuka, going under all the bridges in the Tokyo Bay, walked through the Harajuku district, and to Shibuya where we actually saw the craziness that is the Shibuya crossing by night. Headed back to Ageo and had dinner and drinks with friends and newly met friends. What a day!

Day 6: Kyoto, Japan

On day 6, we explored Kyoto since we had been staying there but mostly taking day trips to other cities. It was a bit harder to get around Kyoto, just because most of their local trains are not JR(Japan Railways) and we had a Japan Railway Pass that allowed for unlimited usage on all JR lines. We ended up taking buses and local metro and were able to see several parts of Kyoto including Arashimaya, Kyoto Station area, and downtown. Left Kyoto to go back to Tokyo that evening.

Outside of the Imperial Palace area were some of the most beautiful red and orange leaves I've ever seen. Autumn is beautiful in Japan!

Day 5: Kyoto to Osaka, Japan

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I have left Japan and am on my way to Los Angeles. Spent some time in Japan this morning (to afternoon) on Sunday there and gained time heading back East.

Posting a photo from Osaka. We took a day trip there and on the way back from the Osaka castle, we saw this fat cat and a cute little Japanese boy making eye contact.