|
| Japan, September 4th to 16th, 2017 As always, feel free to skip my long winded ramblings and go straight to the photos. But in this case, you might miss out on some interesting information. Since I had so much to share, and say, about each place I went on my trip I've organized this gallery a little differently. This page is broken into a different section for each day of my tip. The photos on this page are my favorites from that day. But there is also a link to a larger gallery for each day. So if you don't have the time, or inclination, to look at the gallery for each day then this page will give you a quick view of my trip. There are also 2 videos on this page that are editied and set to music. Some of the individual day galleries may also have video or audio files as well, but they will be almost raw and "as shot". |
| I arrived in Japan on Monday the 4th late in the evening, after loosing a day to the international time line, so even though I left Austin Sunday morning it was Tuesday before I got to start sight seeing. I started with 4 nights in Osaka, with a day trip to the historic city of Nara, then spent 2 nights in Osaka. From there I went to Tokyo for 1 night and then got on a motorcycle and headed out for 4 days in the mountain areas near Nagano and Gifu. Then back to Tokyo. My last day was spent in the beach town of Kamakura, just south of Tokyo. The entire trip was absolutely fantastic. I found myself wanting to go back almost immediately upon getting home. I did a lot, maybe too much for only being there only for 2 weeks. But there are more unchecked boxes on my Japan list than checked ones. The people where very friendly. And even though most don't speak English, between Google Translate and good old fashioned hand gestures, I had many wonderful conversations along the way. And I would say on more than one occasion the challenge of dealing with the language barrier actually made the conversation all the more fun and memorable |
The Vidoes
Here are the 2 videos that I took the time to edit and set to music. I don't usually shoot video, but found myself doing so far more often than normal on this trip, mostly with my phone. I also had an action cam on my helmet for all 4 ride days and recorded almost every minute of the ride. There are some gaps where the battery ran out, but other than that I have HOURS of video from the ride. I hope you enjoy watching these.
Clicking on the thumbnail will open the medium sized video. Just below the video are individual links to lower and higher resolution versions you can pick to better accommodate your internet speed.
Also, this was the first time I've used Adobe Premiere Pro, so let's not be overly critical of my editing skills. ;)
 Smaller (SD-480p) / Larger (HD-1920p) |
 Smaller (SD-480p) / Larger (HD-1920p) |
| This video is a compilation of video shot over my entire trip. It is 5:36 Long It does a good job of summing up the trip. It is mostly in chronological order. The motorcycle ride segments are from days 1,2, and 4 and aren't necessarily in order. |
This video is made up entirely of segments from day 3 of my ride. It is 4:18 long. Day 3 was not only the longest ride day, but had absolutely perfect weather. Keep an eye out at around the 2:50 point. There was a baby bear in the road but he bolted pretty quickly and with the extreme fish eye of the lens he didn't show up on the video very well. I tried to zoom in so you can see him, but it's quick. I would also like to say that the video doesn't do a great job of showing how steep the roads were or how sharp some of the turns were. |
|
|
|
Day 2 - Nara I took a day trip to Nara from Kyoto. It was about 40 minutes by train. Nara was one of the first Capitol Cities. It has some of the oldest Temples and Shrines in Japan. (FYI; Temples are Buddhist and Shrines are Shinto) Most of these are in a very large park with deer that roam freely and pester all the tourists for food. It is a "must see" for any trip to Japan. There are 53 photos in the Day 2 Gallery |
|
|
Day 3 - Koke Dera So technically this is a Kyoto Gallery but I felt that it desrved its own gallery. SaihÅ-ji, more commonly known as Koke Dera (The Moss Temple), is on the west side of Kyoto but is out of the typical tourist areas and destinations. Most of the other visitors appeared to be Japanese. There are 35 photos in the Koke Dera Gallery. |
|
|
Day 4 - Kyoto The photos in this gallery are of my visit to the Golden Temple, which was actually the same day I went to Koke Dera, and of a few other sites I found interesting as I roamed the streets of Kyoto near where I was staying. There are 22 photos in the Day 4 Gallery. |
|
|
Days 5 & 6 - Osaka When planning my trip I thought I'd balance all the old and historic sites with a visit to a more modern city as well. And at the encouragement of an Instagram friend that lives in Osaka I added it to my list. And sure enough, it was a completely different experience. There are 33 photos in the Osaka Gallery. |
|
|
Day 7 - Tokyo (Pt. 1) So this was really only a half day in Tokyo. I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka to Tokyo on Sunday morning and then Monday I left on the motorcycle ride. But even in that half day I managed to get 10 photos for the Tokyo Pt.1 Gallery. |
|
|
Days 8 to 11 - Motorcycle ride in the mountains This was the seed idea for this entire trip. All the rest of the trip was built around these 4 days. It was quite an adventure on several different levels. And it was absolutely wonderful. Even the 1 day where it rained almost the entire ride was quite enjoyable. The videos are posted at the top of this page, and then again in the Gallery. The Ride gallery has 64 photos. |
|
|
Day 12 - Tokyo Pt. 2 To be honest Tokyo wasn't a big focus for me on this trip. I really only spent 1 full day exploring this amazing city. I don't regret that, but I do want to go back and spend a few more days there. In Tokyo I again sought out the "modern" balance to all the historic and natural beauty I'd seen so far on this trip. But still managed to see some historic sights, a temple, and a shrine. Tokyo has some very unique attractions to share with travelers. There are 67 photos, and several videos, in the Tokyo Pt. 2 Gallery. |
|
|
Day 13 - Kamakura I first looked at Kamakura as a stop on this trip because one of my favorite Anime series, Elfen Lied, takes place there. Then I found out that there was a big 3 day religious festival that included an exhibition/ceremony of horse back archery on my last day in Japan. So I added it to my itinerary. And I certainly am glad I did. It's yet another place I want to go back to and explore more thoroughly. There are 32 photos in the Kamakura Gallery |
|
