Japan - Temples, Shrines, and Gardens

We hit a few temples as well as a few shrines. I think the temples caught my eye more than the shrines did. We even took off our shoes and spent a few minutes in front of the alters. The places were very simple and elegant with the exception of the alters that were blinged out…. Bling! would have been proud. Sorry, no pics of the alters as we were not allowed to shoot in there. Keep in mind most of these places, like most of Japan, have burned down about 50 times with the last re-builds happening sometime in the last 200 years.






A bad ass dragon!



...and a little baby dragon



Check out this tree in front of one of the temples:






This temple was under construction and is covered by this awning:








I also have some shots of the Japanese garden which is a staple of any temple, shrine or palace. The gardens were very simple with only rock, trees, and waters. Large groups of blooming flowers is not part of the Japanese style.