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Geishas. Rickshaws. Tall wooden pagodas. Live through my Kyoto experience with me...
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The bright red pagoda near the entrance for Kiyomizu-dera.
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Painting the fall foliage is the only way for this man to spend his day by Kiyomizu-dera.
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The pagoda from afar.
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Two women rinsing their hands and mouths with water -- a spiritual purification ritual.
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In Kyoto, you will see lots of young men and women wearing traditional kimonos.
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Possibly one of the biggest cemeteries I've seen. Burying one's ashes with the family's stone is the Shinto tradition.
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Kinkaku-ji: the Golden Pavillion. Its reflection is just as beautiful as the real thing.
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An IES Abroad Nagoya student wafting the smoke from the incense on her. This is thought to have healing powers and is often done near temples.
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Tō-ji, a 5-story pagoda, is one of Kyoto's main photography hotspots. There were so many photographers there even from 7am!
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The single most exhilerating experience in Kyoto and possibly Japan was riding a rickshaw. Oh. My. Goodness. It's incredible how smoothly these rickshaw "drivers" can run for 2 whole hours! And they are wonderful at making conversation. This will be the first thing I want to do the next time I visit Kyoto.
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Maiko-san and geiko-san were seen walking around Arashiyama (the bamboo forest) for a photoshoot. They were so lovely...
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Last but not least, we walked through the thousand gates of Fushimi Inari. The red paint was a lot more jaded than it looks in pictures I've seen on social media, so I was shocked yet amazed by how long these gates have been standing.
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Kyoto gives off a strong vibe of traditional Japan, which makes it a must-see for anyone who is interested in historical Japan. There are tons of things in Kyoto that I haven't yet seen or done, which leaves me with a full list of things to do for the next time I visit Japan. Anybody wanna come with? :)
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Deanna Stout
<p>Kamishibai is a Japanese style of storytelling that was popular in the first half of the 20th century. These narrators were street performers of a sort -- they read a variety of stories from a series of illustrated paper boards, entertaining the commonfolk before the emergence of television. I will blog about my experiences in Japan through a modernized version of kamishibai, telling my stories through a series of photographs and their corresponding narrations that will be similar to a novel.</p>