I took this shot mostly for the textures, and it’s not a great shot – the leaf is blurred when viewed close-up (it was a windy day on the top of a big hill by the sea – not ideal conditions) – but I think this sepia/mocha approach balances out the poor technique.

Taken at Kunozan Toshogu, Shizuoka.

The wall at the main shrine building at Kunozan Toshogu. A painting of Ieyasu Tokugawa looks on at the dancing lion and gold leaf. I wonder if he’d have been happy with the temple.

Taken at Kunozan Toshogu, Shizuoka.

Taken at Kunozan Toshogu, Shizuoka City

Here is another shot where I’ve used the surroundings as a frame – this time shooting Tokugawa’s tomb through the stone fence around it. Shame about the over-exposed areas though

Taken at Kunozan Toshogu, Shizuoka City

This is next to Tokugawa’s tomb. I shot this picture through a stone lantern (cropped on the left because there is half a woman there).

Taken at Kunozan Toshogu, Shizuoka.

This slab just stuck out among the pebbles at Kunozan Toshogu. If I had another chance to take this shot, I would have liked to have gotten down low for a better angle, but it was damn and my camera doesn’t have a flippy-LCD screen, so this was about as far down as I dared go.

Taken at Kunozan Toshogu, Shizuoka.

This is an omikuji – fortune – that has been left behind to rid the owner of its bad luck. The dark background was chosen to make the paper stand out but not lose context.

Taken at Kunozan Toshogu, Shizuoka.

Sake barrel at Kunozan Toshogu. The Japanese text means ‘registration’.

Having finished a year of posting every two days, this blog will now adopt a Mon-Fri posting schedule. Thank you.

Here is another shot from Nihondaira, this time as a cable car emerges from the dense forest separating us from the shrine at Kunozan Toshogu, the gravesite of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The original shot, like much of my work in Shizuoka, was a bit dull colour-wise, so I stripped it out and gave it a black and white makeover.

Remember the fences of Lover’s Hill on Enoshima? There are very few national sights that have been spared this symbol of everlasting love.

Taken near Nihondaira, Shizuoka City.