Solitude

Mountain Shrine, Keihokucho,

I forget what it’s like to be outside the concrete. To be outside all the people, all the crowds, everyone trying to make it somewhere on time. Even now during this pandemic with all the tourists gone, that tension is still in the air. How did we tolerate it when the tourists were here? I am grateful I can work from home and that we are able to enjoy things in relative peace for the time being. Going out to the countryside in the north of Kyoto was an extra buffer. This is where the true essence of Japan still exists.. The countryside.. It's ayu season now so many fisherman around. Other than that you may see the odd person out having a look at their rice crops but mostly a very quiet wander around a beautiful area in a valley about an hour outside the city. And this place you see above is in a fenced off area of protected forest. Locals didn’t even know where it was or what it was called. My kind of place.