A bit of recon the other week for a photowalk we’ll be doing in the autumn.
A couple of weeks ago myself, my son Joe and a friend of mine – Meg – all went off early in the morning to have a wander around the massive Sojiji Temple complex in Tsurumi. I knew the place was big but wasn’t really ready for how big.
A well-known and popular centre for religious study, Sojiji is spread over several acres just five minutes walk from Tsurumi JR station. The cemetery is even larger and covers an enormous area of land around the temple perimeter.
It was already hot even though we arrived just before 8am but some cool temple cloisters helped with the heat and – just like everywhere in Japan – we were never far from a vending machine full of ice-cold drinks. You gotta love this country for the ready supply of cold beverages in summer and hot coffee vending-machines in winter.
The temple buildings are numerous, interesting and varied in style. One or two are truly gargantuan as well, all surrounded by trees which – come the autumn – will doubtless provide a gorgeous display.
We’ll be planning a photowalk there for October or November, when the trees are in full colour.
Here’s a few shots of mine; a rather eclectic set it must be said. Meg’s slideshow from Flickr follows. All of mine are straight from the camera, shot with the 50mm f/1.2 on my D700.
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Meg’s Flickr slideshow of Sojiji Temple
Sojiji’s official website is here.
