Japan 2006 Part 4: Wandering through nature

During my first trip to Japan I spent a week or so traveling around to do some sightseeing; Temples, Shrines, Castles, and other historical spots were typical destinations. A friend of mine and I were a curious sort at the time, and tried to take full advantage of being given free roam privileges in these areas. More often than not, as we were walking around these places we'd see a little hidden route going off into the woods, or an open gate leading to a trail around the back, or some sort of area off the beaten path. We'd look at each other, shrug, and start walking that way. This led to some pretty cool spots we wouldn't have gotten to see had we not been so eager to explore where the others in our group weren't going. I thought I'd make this 4th part with some photos I took during our little escapades. As usual, these 2006 pictures are old polaroids so please excuse the quality.

Coming out of the woods on a little path leading away from a temple, we found a road with this overgrown truck on the side.

This Torii we found after walking down the road a ways. It was pretty neat to see one outside of a tourist destination.

In Japan, everyone gets cremated, leaving more room in graveyards like the one above.

bamboo forest

While you're in a bamboo forest there are constantly little leaves fluttering down... It's like an Anime fight scene in there.

A shot to give an idea of the size of the bamboo.

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Thanks for looking!