Japan Photos 11

Up and out early to get to the station and into Tokyo to catch the train to Kyoto.
I would like to have gone to a baseball game on one of my trips but I've never been over there during the season.
Grabbing something for breakfast in the Tokyo Station.
A chocolate chip muffin.
A big guy in traditional clothes. He could have been a sumo wrestler. That's what I'm going to think he was.
Time to board the train. This is an 700 series train that can get up to speeds near 170 mph.
The shinkansen trains are pretty comfortable. I don't know why that woman is looking right into the camera like that. It's kind of creeping me out.
Some of the Japanese countryside from the window of a speeding train.
We got to Kyoto at 10:47 a.m. Japanese trains tend to run on time. Down this little street is...
Ryokan Shimizu. It looks kind of like it has two eyes looking off to the right. Now try to unsee that. You can't.
Not much of a garden, but there's not a lot of space there.
After dropping off our bags we headed out to walk around town. This is one of the entrances to the grounds of Higashi Honganji temple.
Another contrast of old and new with the Kyoto Tower off in the distance.
A big ol' Buddhist temple. Take your shoes off before entering.
We had to take off our shoes before going into one of the other buildings to use the restrooms. There are usually little cubbyholes to put your shoes in.
Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan for over a thousand years until it was moved to Tokyo in 1869.
Need a rental car? You can get a Toyota here.
Another trip, another gas station. My guess is that it is ¥103 per liter, which should come out to be around $3.40 per gallon.
This guy was feeding birds alongside the Kamo River. Most were pigeons and ducks and herons but there were some large hawks that swooped in and caught the bread in midair.
Some older looking buildings (or just not well kept) with shops selling little ceramic stuff.
The next stop was at the Otanihonbyo Mausoleum. This is the main gate.
It just happened to be on the way to somewhere else we were headed.
A tsukubai, where one is supposed to wash hands when visiting the temple.
This worship hall is known as the Meichodo. It was built in 1709. Behind it is the sodan, which is an octagonal enclosure that is where the remains of Shinran Shonin, the founder of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist tradition, is interred.
At one point this priest (I guess he was a priest or something) came out and took some things from these people. It may have been money.
There was a rather large cemetery nearby.

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