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Uji

During our last trip to Kyoto, we took the short train ride south to explore Uji. We visited the Byodo-in Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its surrounding gardens, walked along the Uji River, and sampled many matcha-infused delicacies. Before hoping on the train back to Kyoto, we also enjoyed late afternoon tea and dessert at one of the many tea shops located along Ujibashi-Dori Street.

Our decision to visit Uji was an impromptu one, so we didn’t have a plan or get to see (or eat) everything that we wanted. We’re hoping to visit Kyoto again in the near future and we’re planning to revisit Uji to see what else this charming little city has to offer.

Return to Kyoto

During the pandemic, Japan topped the list of places that we wanted to visit. Once we heard the news that Japan was reopening its borders, we started planning our first trip back since 2018. In February of this year, we spent nearly two weeks exploring one of our favorite countries in the world. We revisited Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka and visited Yokohama for the first time.

Much like our experience in 2018, we found Kyoto to be our favorite destination on our trip. We spent five days in Kyoto revisiting familiar sites and exploring new ones. We made a morning trip back to Arashiyama to beat the crowds, took our time wandering the streets of Higashiyama, and explored the Pontoncho district for the first time.

We’re so happy that we were able to return to Japan this year and we really enjoyed our time there. So much so that we’re already looking into places we want to visit and things we want to do the next time we have an opportunity to visit.

Dotonbori in Black & White

Our hotel in Osaka was in the Namba district near the bright lights of Dotonbori. After checking in and getting settled, we headed out to explore and to find dinner. Having spent the previous three days in Kyoto, we had to readjust to the chaos and commotion of the big city. Even though each of the tourist destinations we visited in Kyoto were crowded, Kyoto itself was relatively calm compared to Osaka. Once we readjusted however, we were able to enjoy all that Osaka had to offer.

A interesting side note about the following set of images from our first night in Osaka. They were all shot on an iPhone and converted to black and white using Lightroom CC on an iPad. This is a first for me because I’ve never posted images from an iPhone on the site before. Having used many iPhones over the year, I must say that the image quality (especially in low light) has really come a long way. This may not be news to most, but for me, it’s a confirmation that I no longer have to worry about heading out without one of my Fujifilm cameras by my side.

Kyoto

We traveled to Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara in Japan at the end of 2018. While we had a great time visiting all three places, we both enjoyed exploring the sites in Kyoto the most. During our three days in Kyoto, we made our way to the Bamboo Grove in Arashiyama, walked through the Senbon Torii at the Fushimi Inari Taisha, and took in the view from the Kiyomizudera Temple. Since our trip coincided with the fall foliage season, we were also greeted by spectacular fall colors at each of the places we visited.