We are going to Japan and we will be traveling through Nara, Osaka and Kyoto. Please give me your advice on shops in those cities that will have a full selection of medium-format film -- preferably shops near train stations.
10gatsu ni kazoku sannin de Nara, Osaka, Kyoto ni ryokou shimasu. Film no mise ga dokoni aruka oshiete kudasai. Medium-format film wo kakushu oiteiru mise, tokuni densha no eki no chikaku ga iito omoimasu.
Also, we are staying over at Enryakuji in Kyoto on 10/23. Is there any suggestion as to where to take pictures?
Sorekara, 10gatsu 23nichi no ban wa Kyoto no Enryakuji ni ippaku shimasu. Toku ni shashin satsuei ni omoshiroi basho ha arimasuka?
Thank you very much.
Onegai shimasu.
Hi, I've been there last spring, a wonderful time indeed. It was my first trip to Japan but I suppose that you already the country and the culture. As in Osaka, a new bikku bikku camera store has just opened in Kyoto a few meters from the train station and I am pretty sure that you will find some 120 film there.
Compared to Nara and Kyoto, Osaka is not so nice: mainly a business and port city. I guess if you're interested by industrial/city-scapes you will find the place more interesting than I did. I spent a very little time there.
Nara. This is another story. A bit too touristic at times however you'll have to visit the great Buddha at the Todai-ji of course but do visit the very small and very charming Gango-ji: when I was there it was absolulty deserted, and the gardener told me it was like that most of the time. If I remember well, I spent 3 or 4 hours shooting almost everything, and there are only 2 very small pavillions. Also, take the train to the Horyu-ji near Nara: again almost nobody! Tourists were all piling themselves at the Todai-ji. However, climb the hill behind that temple and you'll enjoy a great panoramic spot above Nara.
Kyoto. So much to be said. Usually, the center of attraction is the East, however I did just the opposite because my relatives were in the west and that I had started to stroll at random around their place and liked it very much; this is the Arashiyama North-West side of Kyoto. If you like, as I do, how a city gently fades in the country, then in the hills and forests, this is for you. There are of course some large temple both following the dharma or the shinto faith (a special mention for those wonderful small family owned jinja with chickens running everywhere) though what I found the most interesting was the garland of small temples of Sagano where Basho spent some time.
And I will end with that, do walk from Kyotaki to Takao following the river (careful with the snakes) and enjoy all the small temples there half in ruins, half deserted; two very moving ones are the Kozan-ji and Saimyo-ji where you get the feeling that the actual temples are not what has been built by the human hand but the wilderness all around. A special place.
Also, if you climb the Atagosan above Sagano and the Katsura-gawa, you'll enjoy a very fine panoramic view of Kyoto.
Sorry for this long post, and have a nice trip!
