Friday, 6 December 2019

Riding the Shinkansen with a JR Pass

The Japan Rail Pass is an amazing bargain for any tourist wanting to travel around Japan. JR Passes come in one, two and three week versions. They can only be bought in your country of residence, NOT in Japan. Buy a pass and you receive a voucher which can then be converted into a full JR Pass at any JR office once in Japan (i.e. at Narita airport, Haneda airport, or most large stations). Is the JR Pass worth the cost? Look at www.hyperdia.com, check the destinations you want to travel to and record the cost of each leg. You'll soon be able to assess whether the cost of the Pass is good value, or not. For example: Tokyo to Kyoto is about AUS$180 one way. I recently travelled Tokyo - Kyoto, Kyoto - Himeji (rtn), then Osaka - Tokyo, which came out at about $600 - the same cost of the JR Pass - but I also used it on JR buses in Kyoto, on the JR Yamanote line in Tokyo, the Nara line (twice) and many more short trips on JR transport, saving a further $200. SO it worked out to be a big saving overall...

Here's a typical JR reserved ticket.
Kyoto to Tokyo on the KODAMA 646 train, departing at 10:05 and arriving in Tokyo at 13:47. Car 12, seat 11A (window seat). If you can't get a reserved seat like this, you can turn up at the station and queue for the non-reserved seats - each shinkansen has at least two sometimes three cars dedicated for non-reserved seating. Queue and its first come, first served. From my experience, you still get a seat - but it might not be next to the person you are travelling with...
Late afternoon light at shin-Himeji station
When you travel on a shinkansen you can buy meals and snacks from the trolly lady, or buy from a more comprehensive list from a shop like this one in shin-Osaka station. Most bento box places offer anything up to 50 different combinations, ranging from a 180yen onigiri (rice ball) to a 1400 yen feast...
I settled for the 1000 yen local speciality - the kinki special (Kinki is the name given to the district around Kyoto. It was delicious ('oishi!')
Typical two/three seating arrangement in a shinkansen carriage. All seats swivel 180 degrees at the terminus and recline further back than any plane seat in economy class. Even reclined, you still have more room to relax than in any standard economy class seat. This carriage had individual a/c recharge points on the wall at floor level each side plus free WiFi.
Watchful guard at the rear of an N700 shinkansen.
JR Pass holders cannot ride in NOZOMI or MIZUHO shinkansens - these are the fastest and would cost a lot more than the standard shinkansens. Still, even the slower shinkansens can reach speeds of up to 280kph...
Car and seat numbers are printed on your booked ticket. When taking a shinkansen you must find your car number on the platform and queue there, preferably at the right end of the carriage so you do not have far to walk to your seat with your case. There's usually only limited space for suitcases at each end of the car, but plenty of space in the luggage rack, if you can lift the case up!, that is.
Guards and drivers dress like airline staff.
Here's a snap of a female guard at the rear of the train as it pulls out of the station

Saturday, 30 November 2019

Overnight trip to Koyasan


One of the thousands of figures dotted about the graves in Okunoin cemetery, Koyasan







Soujin (our monastic accommodation for the night)
Even in the freezing sleet, Koyasan is beautiful

Tuesday, 26 November 2019

Night Shooting in Gion, Kyoto







Using Elements' Scene Cleaner

How often do you experience this: a beautiful location but too many people. Thanks to cheap travel this happens a lot - here I am in the World Heritage Sagano bamboo forest on a Monday arvo and it is very busy with people streaming past this vantage point. I waited quite a while for a gap in the traffic and this shot was the best I could get before more tourists came past. So, one neat trick to simplify your shots is to take several snaps of the same scene (but with the walkers all in different places). Once done, open the files into the Guided Edit mode of  Photoshop Elements. once open, you can choose Photomerge Scene Cleaner and follow the steps to remove some of the clutter.
There I was trying to find a shot among the crowds in Sagano and this big boofhead stopped right in front of me!
Too many tourists in Kyoto...

Here's my final scene, cleaned and polished using Photomerge. A quite scene in an otherwise overcrowded world...

Saturday, 23 November 2019

Going Bananas

Japan is renowned for producing exclusive and very expensive items of food, such as a US$40 bunch of grapes or, as you can see here, a very expensive banana...

Here's a banana from Daimaru department store priced at A$27

Four Temples in One Day

Selfie, selfie, selfie...
Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Temple

Doorway leading to Ninna-ji Temple

Ninna-ji Temple

Ninna-ji Temple

Five-story PagodaNinna-ji Temple

Religious celebrations at Ninna-ji Temple

Monks, monks and more monks,
Ninna-ji Temple

Monks, monks and more monks,
Ninna-ji Temple
In this example I deliberately slowed the shutter speed then panned the lens to follow the priests
to produce a greater sense of movement...

Autumn colour
Ninna-ji Temple

Autumn colour + Monks
Ninna-ji Temple

Autumn colour + monksIn this example I deliberately slowed the shutter speed then panned the lens to follow the priests to produce a greater sense of movement...
Ninna-ji Temple

In this example I deliberately slowed the shutter speed then panned the lens to follow the priests to produce a greater sense of movement...

Monks on their way up the steps to the main shrine
Ninna-ji Shrine
Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Temple
Shot using my infra-red converted Canon EOS 400

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Temple
Shot using my infra-red converted Canon EOS 400

Ceremonial umbrellas folded and waiting for the exodus of the monks...

Kinkaku-ji through autumnal leaves
Leaves settled into the radial shapes drawn in the gravel at Enko-ji Temple, Eastern Kyoto
Water tub
Enko-ji Temple

View of the garden
Enko-ji Temple
Bell tower Enko-ji Temple