One thing I love about living in Japan is finding temples to explore. There are some really amazing temples in Tokyo. After living here a while you find yourself going back and fourth to the same temples over and over again. One of my favorite temples to explore is Zojoji. Zojoji was the site of Tokyo Photo 2013. It has a few very interesting paths along the side that are full of Jizo statues. Today's Configuration: Leica MP with Summilux 21mm f/1.4 and Summicron 28mm f/2.0 and Noctilux 50mm f/0.95.

I love some of the decisions in Tokyo where people decide to plan trees. Tokyo is a pretty green city and it is nice to see but ones like this make me smile. Japan has a style all to itself.

I honestly can't stand all of the illegal parking in Japan so I was actually pretty happy when Japan's Police Departments outsourced parking enforcement to a 3rd party company. People park cars, bikes, mopeds and motorcycles everywhere. People park in front of entrances to stores and building. Often parked in a very unsafe way for people passing by. This guy is actually parked on a no parking sign.

When the Japan Police were in charge of checking the parking they took a very non-confrontational Japanese approach to enforcement. On the first time they passed by and saw your illegal parking they would mark a line on the ground with chalk. The next pass they would make the line into a X. The 3rd pass they would stop and leave a warning or a maybe a ticket. As you can imagine it gave you a lot of leeway and people didn't take the parking laws and enforcement very seriously.

Kinda of a creepy ad...

The OCD in me wants to know why there isn't a taxi in the middle spot. Do they not see the empty space? I feel like perhaps I should point it out to them.

I was speaking to a co-worker who recently moved to Tokyo about Jiyugaoka. He mentioned that he recently took a family trip to visit a huge temple in Jiyugaoka. I was thinking to myself that the little temple that I am always shooting in Jiyugaoka is nice but not sure it is worthy of a family trip. He showed me a few pictures but I was pretty sure this couldn't be in Jiyugaoka. I have lived here for years surely I would know of this. I have explored Jiyugaoka endlessly so surely I would have come across this.

A few days later I checking out Google Maps and sure enough there is a massive temple that takes more more than 10-15 city blocks named Joshinji about a 10-12 minute walk from my house. It is about 5 blocks behind the grocery store we go to each week. I just never went down that street before. This is such a Tokyo experience. Everyone who has lived in Tokyo has had a similar experience.

The place is massive and beautiful especially with the leaves turning color.

I was there around 7:30am after grabbing my Starbucks so I had the place all to myself.

Frost! Something you don't see very often in Tokyo. It is really starting to get cold now. I am glad I picked up a few nice winter jackets while I was in London.

I like what someone did with the leaves here.

The main temple building... let's see what's inside.

Wow! I have see giant gold Buddha's a lot in the past especially on trips around South Asia but very surprised to see it so close to my house.

There is a massive cemetery out in the back as well bigger than the temple.

The colors there are just beautiful...

I love how they support old trees in Japan so they can continue to grow and be beautiful...

OK...back to the streets of Tokyo. What causes the need for such safe precautions to be put in place. A cone with safety tape that is being held in place by a sandbag and safety tape on the pole and the junction box. Are people crossing the street and not realizing there is a giant gray pole in front of them and walking right into it. Did someone walk into it and complain and this was the resolution that was reached? Why not just paint the the pole and box yellow or striped or whatever. Wouldn't it look much better?

I am a man of routines. I have a lot of them. I love getting my Starbucks in the morning. There is comfort to having that first sip of my Grande Americano. Even on Saturday morning I walk down to Starbucks and grab a cup. To me it feels like the start of my day. Do you have any routines?