水無瀬神社の境内で
自撮りしました。
毎年夏に風車、
風鈴が飾られ
参拝客を癒してくれます。

櫛田神社で撮った写真です。
水に浮かぶ鶴と紫陽花の花びらの組み合わせがとても涼しげで綺麗でした。

【須佐神社の大杉】
樹齢約千三百年。
生命力や神社の管理に驚かされました。
因みに、名前は"大杉さん"です。
公式HPにも記載あります。

[English／日本語]
We went to Hiyoshi-Hachioji Shrine, a 5-minute walk from the school, to see hydrangeas. It was wonderful to see so many different kinds of hydrangeas ✨.
学校から歩いて5分の日吉八王子神社へ紫陽花（あじさい）を見に行きました。いろいろな種類の紫陽花が咲いていてとても素晴らしかったです✨

下鴨神社の糺の森

[English／日本語]
The rooster market at Otori Shrine in Hachioji. It is held every year in November. It takes about 8 minutes on foot from Hachioji Station to this Otori Shrine, but there were many festival stalls yatai on the street and it was very lively. Our school allows students to participate in traditional events held in the city as an off-campus learning opportunity.
八王子にある大鳥神社で行われる酉の市の様子です。毎年11月に行われます。八王子駅からこの大鳥神社まで徒歩8分くらいですが、道にお祭りの屋台（やたい）がたくさんあり、とてもにぎやかでした。本校では校外学習の場として市内で行われる伝統行事に参加させています。

絶景富士山
桜と忠霊塔と富士山です

日本絶景の代表である写真スポットです
山梨県富士吉田市朝倉浅間神社で撮影。

長野県にある諏訪大社。夏の日差しの中、緑が生い茂る境内へ入ると、自然と調和した諏訪大社の歴史を感じることができます。

うきは市にある、
【稲荷神社】へ行った際に撮った写真です。

お気に入りのスポットで、
鳥居と夜景がとても綺麗で落ち着きます。

荒々しい山肌の妙義山をバックに妙義神社の桜
この空間は時を止める力があるのでしょうか？
ずっと眺めていたい素敵な場所でした。
群馬県富岡の春景色

京都 高台寺の行事『狐の嫁入り』
今年で終わりとの事で、キツネのお面をかぶった白無垢姿の女性に会って来ました♪

京都の上賀茂神社

桜と富士山
そろそろ富士山の麓の桜に咲いてますので楽しみです。
山梨県富士吉田市忠霊塔の公園に撮影した。

奈良県の春日大社周辺です。柑橘の実がたわわに実り、朱色の鳥居の上で、五穀豊穣を表しているようでした。

広島県庄原市にある丑寅神社。
鎮守の森に包まれた鳥居の様子は、いかにもかくりよの門。
いろんな神社に行きましたが、自然とここまで調和した場所はなかなか珍しいように感じます。

忠霊塔の雪の日と富士山。なんでも真っ白になり、美しいである。
富士山大人気の写真スポットです
山梨県富士吉田市忠霊塔新倉山浅間神社にて

茨城にある酒列磯前神社にドライブ
お金持ちになれるらしい

梅花黄連の咲く神社。
熊野市神川町の瀧神社です。
苔むした階段の先にある鳥居の風景が神秘的でした。
2022年2月27日撮影。

三木市伽耶院にある紫陽花
森の中の少女風に娘を撮影しここの紫陽花は数が多いので何処で撮影しても絵になります

三木市伽耶院にある紫陽花
森の中の少女風に娘を撮影しここの紫陽花は数が多いので何処で撮影しても絵になります

三木市伽耶院かやいんにある2月のみ光の反射によるヒカリモ中々出る時と出ない時があります。

茨城県ひたちなか市
大洗磯前神社 神磯の鳥居
良い鱗組が演出してくれた冬の朝

兵庫県丹波にある浄丸神社の姫ホタル
丹波はホタルの撮影スポットがたくさんあるのですが、水の上を姫ホタルはあまり見た事がなく他のカメラマンさん達もたくさんいたのですが、私は滝の前で撮影したくて、一人川を越え近くまで来たのですが、帰りは真っ暗闇の中手探りで来た道をライトは一切使用出来ないので引き返すの大変でした。
そして何とか元来た道に戻れたもののヒルに噛まれ血まみれに大変でした。

成田山新勝寺にて撮影しました。📸初詣のときに敷地内にある五重の塔の造形美に惹かれて撮影。1500年の歴史を垣間見ることができました。

The shrine and its nearby area at China town, Yokohama were well decorated with lights and lanterns before the Chinese new year. It looks very beautiful and charming.

Just some more photos to wrap up our trip to Nikko.

I took a bunch of photos of different monuments and buildings that seemed important or had lavish decorations.
I can't make out what the writing on the monument says but I can at least make out the kanji for heart 心.

I also liked the golden palanquins inside the the building in the forth photo, although I'm not sure if they were used at some point or are simply for decoration.

The other photos are from Futarasan Chugushi Shrine 二荒山中宮祠神社 located in front of Lake Chuzenji.
Unfortunately we didn't have time to go inside the shrine but I was at least able to take some nice photos of the torii gate.
Apparently it has a kagura hall as well and the entrance to Mt. Nantai is located inside the shrine as well.

And finally, just an assortment of food that I haven't posted yet.
All of it tasted great.
It was definitely a trip I'm never going to forget!

Some more photos from our trip to Nikko.

There were so many awesome monuments, landmarks, and buildings that it'd be impossible to fit it all into one post.

I was so glad that I had my mobile battery with me because I was taking so many photos that I was just burning through my battery lol.
I really liked how the incense burner looked and I tried looking up how old it was but I wasn't able to find anything about it, only the one in front of Tokugawa Ieyasu's burial site.

I would have liked to use the chozuya as well, but unfortunately it was closed off due to covid.
I also liked seeing the sake barrels as well as they always brighten up shrines.

The "Ippon Toro" lantern was interesting as well.
I'd never heard of Empress Tofukumon'in before either, so it gave me some interesting things to read about Japan's Edo Period.
Apparently she helped rebuild prominent temple in Kyoto and collected art and pottery from famous artisans of the time and even those of the past.

Some buildings I'd have to look at a map to know their names but there was definitely no shortage of decorations.
Unfortunately we weren't able to take photos inside some of the main buildings, but a few of them had ceiling paintings done by famous painters.
Many of them were birds, and I'm not an expert, but I think they were mostly cranes and they were all really beautiful.

楊谷寺 花手水
2年前来たときは柄杓に「そうだ京都、行こう」のロゴは入っていなかったのですが、ここ数年でSNSで話題になり変わっていました。
相変わらず紫陽花が敷き詰められております観光客の方も多く来られておりました。

望遠で圧縮効果、不要な物を一切映さずシンプルに撮影しました。

Took a trip out to Nikko, Tochigi over the three day weekend and had an incredible time.
The purpose of the trip was to celebrate my girlfriend's sister's college graduation so we wanted to make it as memorable as possible.
I don't have enough room to fit this into one post so I'll post the rest throughout the week.

We started out from Tokyo and had lunch somewhere Nikko Toshogu Shrine.
I'm not sure if Yuba is a local specialty but it seemed like literally every single restaurant in the area was selling it so I'm assuming that was the case.
It was my first time trying it and it was pretty interesting I guess you could say.
It tasted alright with the soy sauce and radish but I think I prefer normal tofu instead. Either way it was a nice experience.

After eating we headed out to Nikko Toshogu Shrine nearby and man was it amazing.
Everything was so lavishly decorated that I couldn't stop taking photos.
The pagoda was incredibly beautiful as well and the snow covering the Nikko area made everything even more beautiful.

I was lucky enough to get a really nice shot of the corridor full of lanterns while no one was walking through the area as well.
I also took a photo of the torii gate at the top of the steps as it had a very strong presence and signaled the end of the long journey up the steps to reach the inner shrine.

Unfortunately the main gate was undergoing repairs so it was completely covered in tarp and surrounded by staging so I wasn't able to get a photo of it, but I did get some really cool shots of the main shrine.

I tried as hard as I could to get some good photos of the grave of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and while I think the photo of the gate isn't bad, I think I'd need a better camera to get a good shot of the crane and his tomb.
That being said it was still really awesome to see.

After checking out the shrine we headed out to Kegon Falls and I managed to get some really nice videos and some decent photos as well.
I can't post the videos or I would.
It was really awesome seeing the icicles surrounding the waterfall and all of the frozen scenery as well.
Even just taking the lift down to the waterfall was an experience.
After we left the waterfall observation deck and went back up the elevator we got some suiton 水団, flour dumplings in soup and shared it between the three of us as a light snack before dinner later that evening.
We also visited Lake Chuzenji and admired the scenery there for a bit as well.
We didn't spend a ton of time here so this photo was the best I could do.
I like that I was able to get the sign in the shot though so I can't complain.

After enjoying the view of the lake we headed to our hotel and ate dinner and had some wine.
The place we stayed at was called "Lamb Chop" ペンション・ラムチャップ日光.
The food was great and service provided by the the owners was top notch, so I definitely recommend checking it out if you're looking for a place to stay in the area.

After dinner we headed back to our room and I was so exhausted I fell asleep almost instantly.

And that was the end of day 1! I'll post day two tomorrow since this post is getting quite long now!