A gem of a place, Sado Island is located off Japan’s west coast. One day, way back when, I rode my bicycle onto a ferry and spent a few days cycling around the island keeping to the coast for the most part. The picture below shows the view from Senkaku-wan on the northwest coast. After camping a few miles beyond that, I traveled onward to a small town where a gold mine—now a museum—once stood. Someday I’ll put a few more Sado pics on this site.
Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion, is one of Japan premier attractions and one of it’s most-photographed religious shrines. Seven centuries ago, it served as residence for a powerful aristocrat before being converted into a Zen Buddhist temple. While its appearance might normally lead one to conclude the structure is the original one, that is simply not the case. The wooden structure has burned down at least twice, most recently seventy years ago, before being rebuilt. When I visited, there were scores of other photographers—many with large, heavy tripods—moving around and looking for the best locations to set up and capture the interplay of color and light. Considering that other visitors simply wanted to linger or stroll around the scenic grounds, one often needed to wait some time to get a shot like this.
Roaming Wide 