Photos taken in November 2010
Students of different ages are visiting the grounds of Kitano Tenmangū Shrine (北野天満宮) in Kyoto, Japan. Kitano Tenmangu is one of Japan’s most important Tenmangu shrines (along with Dazaifu Tenmangu in Fukuoka Prefecture), meaning that it is frequented by students who come here to pray for success in exams.
Visitors are praying at Aramatsuri-no-miya, an affiliated shrine inside Ise Jingu in Mie Prefecture, Japan.
A scene from Shichi-Go-San (七五三) at Saidaiji Kannon-in Temple in the eastern part of Okayama, Japan.
Bundles of straw on a rice field after harvest, as seen in the countryside east of Okayama, Japan.
Stone Buddhas at the Moss Garden of Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) at Ohara, north of Kyoto, Japan.
An autumn impression from the Inner Shrine (Naikū; 内宮) at the Ise Grand Shrine (Ise Jingū; 伊勢神宮) in Mie Prefecture, Japan.
An autumn impression from Enryakuji Temple (延暦寺), located to the northeast of Kyoto on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, Japan.
A painter at work on a fine autumn day at Hōfukuji Temple (宝福寺) in Sōja, Okayama Prefecture, Japan.
Kamba Falls (神庭の滝) are located in Kamba Waterfall Park, near the city of Maniwa in the northwestern part of Okayama Prefecture.
Temple staff rushing to serve Green Tea and Japanese Sweets at Hosenin Temple (宝泉院) in the beautiful Ōhara area of Northern Kyoto, Japan.
A Nozomi Shinkansen (bullet train) is seen departing from track 12 at Kyoto Station, Japan.
At the southern entrance of Kitano Tenmangū Shrine (北野天満宮) in Kyoto, Japan, a man is seen exercising beside a lineup of tōrō (Japanese stone lanterns).
