Hello Hiveians and welcome back!
Today we're going to jump back in time a bit to resume a previous series that I never finished, let alone barely started. You can see the 2 previous posts here to catch up if you'd like:
Post 1:https://hive.blog/hive-184437/@seangold/traveling-japan-20-hours-to-tokyo-part-1
Post 2: https://hive.blog/hive-184437/@seangold/traveling-japan-arriving-in-tokyo-seeing-a-real-gundam-and-shinjuku-at-night-part-2
So with that out of the way, let's jump back to 2020, just before the covid-19 Pandemic truly changed our world, and my last international adventure.
I would wake up about an hour before sunrise in my capsule hostel. And I must add, I'm already enjoying this capsule style of hostel. I have a lot more privacy and comfort compared to a traditional shared dorm, but still only paying 17$ a night for a place right near the heart of Tokyo!
I pull open the curtain to my capsule and head to the washroom to get ready for the day. The plan is to begin by photographing the famous and iconic Buddhist temple, Sensō-ji at sunrise.
I head to the elevator, and out through the empty lobby to make my way to the train station right next door. But first, I would discover my first experience with Japanese vending machines. Don't need to go to a store and they're also very reasonably priced, how awesome!
After I grabbed my morning drink, I jump into the subway to catch my train to the temple.
The subway stations are amazing. They're clean, convenient, and safe. Where I live in Boston, we still have open tracks that you can, and people do, fall onto the tracks and either get injured or even die. But not here, with gates to prevent that. While waiting for the train, I decided to try another vending machine, this time it was an ice cream machine, and even though it was in the station, it was still probably cheaper than buying one at a store. But I had to eat it quick, as you're not really supposed to eat on the trains I believe.
After 20 or so minutes on the train, I got off at the closest stop to the temple and began my walk just as the sun started to rise.
After a little bit of a walk through some interesting areas and neighborhoods, I had arrived at Senso Ji, and it was beautiful! With the early morning light, and despite being in Tokyo, it was very quiet and peaceful.
After shooting a bit from where I entered the area, I began to explore a bit more of the Temple grounds and I came across the tower, which wasn't hard to find by any means.
It was beautiful and intricate! The level of detail and craftsmanship is incredible! After photographing it a bit from where I was, I decided I had to get up close to it, and was it ever even more impressive!
Just awe inspiringly beautiful, especially with the morning light! After admiring it for a bit, I headed back to the other area of the temple to explore and photograph more.
I found so many interesting compositions and angles to shoot here, it was amazing. And I couldn't get enough of the reds everywhere, just beautiful!
After that, I headed around to some of the smaller buildings of the compound looking for more compositions and to explore.
From there I found another area with about 20 vending machines, so I of course explored all their options, decided to grab a cold drink and take everything in for a few minutes. But only a few minutes, because I had a very busy day and time was passing by. It was time to get moving to my next location, but first I had to have a few more glimpses of the tower.
And that's it for this installment, I hope you enjoyed! What did you think? Have you ever been here? What were your favorite photos? Let me know, and be sure to check in next time as we head off from Senso Ji towards Akihabara, which is famous for everything about anime and video games!
And in the meantime, don't forget to follow along with me on www.Instagram.com/SeanGoldPhotos or check out www.SeanGold.com for more of my work! Thanks!
Until next time,
Sean
