First New Year Eve in New Japan’s era (Reiwa).
Location: Kyoto, Japan (around Karasuma（烏丸） and Ponto street（先斗町）)
Date: 31 Dec 2019
Camera: Fujifilm X-T30
Lens: Rikenon XR Rikenon 50mm F2 L (day time), Helios M44-2 58mm F2 (night time)
Kyoto is one of my favourite places in Japan. Loads of temples and shrines, photogenic streets and items. I think this place is the most famous places in Japan for people around the world. I went to Kyoto many times, but there are still many places I need to visit next.
This photo walk gallery is my photos I took while walking around Karasuma stations in day time. At night, I went to Ponto street which has many Izakaya-style pubs and restaurants in a tiny street. I only had classical lenses that were manufactured around 40 years ago, and the "film simulation" of Fujifilm makes the photo like "The nostalgic Kyoto".
I made a photo album at the end of this page. Some of the photos are also available at Adobe Stock and Shutterstock.
These photos were taken at Choho-ji temple. Unlike Tokyo, each temple in Kyoto is comparatively large and has many historical items or architectures. I often visit temples and shrines to get Goshuin（御朱印）of each site, and taking photos of small interiors (exteriors?) is also interesting. I usually take 18-150mm zoom lens for travel to capture everything, but when you walk around Kyoto, I recommend you to have a single focus lens to crop the history of Kyoto.
Down to streets, you can find the mind of Kyoto people everywhere. I like the statue of monkey thinking something on the wall like the Thinker of Rodin. Kyoto has 2,000 years of history in Japan, but I feel in Kyoto that it does not always mean it must be preserved as it was.
The 6th photo above with bamboo and water is at Rokudo-Chinno-ji（六道珍皇寺）which is called the gate to hell. Apparently this is a wall that connects to the hell.
"Rikenon XR Rikenon 50mm F2 L" is called "Japanese Summicron". I haven't used the Summicron of Leica, but I like the combination of the Japanese Summicron and the film simulation of Fujifilim. These photos were taking with Pro Neg Hi which has high contrast and low saturation. This lens depicts things with strong colours, so I think this combination makes the photo kind of nostalgic like the real film photos.
Streets are one of my favourite scenery. First two photos are at Gion（祇園）, and the rest of them are at Ponto Street（先斗町）. Ponto street has many Izakaya-style Japanese pubs in a tiny street and next to Kamogawa river（鴨川）. This street is also famous for street snaps. I took some photos as above and my photo albums below.
Ponto street at night. This was the new year eve in 2019, but many people enjoyed drinking and conversation. I changed my lens to Helios M44-2 and the film simulation to Provia. Provia emphasises the colours vividly, so the light of lanterns and neon are glittering with Helios's spin-like blurs.
Photo Album (includes photos that are NOT on this page!)
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