Jump back five years in time and I was taking this photo. That was one of the more amazing days I’ve ever experienced. We got on the train in Kyoto to Arashiyama, rented bikes there, and spent the rest of the day riding around Arashiyama and Sagano enjoying amazing scenery. A week later and the cherry blossoms would have been a bit better, but I’m not complaining.
Today’s random desktop background image is a bit dated. I took this photo in 2007 in Kyoto. The maneki neko (welcoming cat), that is so common at the entrance of Japanese stores, was on the roof of this establishment. The lanterns indicate that some sort of Evening Special Viewing (夜の特別拝観) was going on at nearby Kiyomizu Dera (清水寺).
I turned on my computer this morning and was greeted with this image of the Golden Pavilion (kinkakuji) which I took back in 2007. It was a glorious day even with overcast skies.
When I visited Kiyomizu Dera for the first time, I hadn’t read anything about the place in a guide book. Therefore, I had sort of a “Duh” moment when after following around the packs of tourists we actually arrived at the kiyomizu that makes up its name. I hadn’t really thought about why it was named as it was or what the significance of the name was until this point. Duh!
Anyway, I bet you can’t tell which of these kiyomizu samplers is my daughter. 
Shopping centers in Japan frequently have a similar look and feel to them. Some are called ginza, some are out of doors, but a common look is the one above–sort of a covered arcade of sorts.
This one is one of the largest, if not the largest, for this variety in Japan. You head down one of these lanes off of Kawaramachi Dori (河原町通) or Shijo Dori (四条通) in Kyoto and when you get to the end you can turn the corner to head down another mega-long street loaded with nothing but more shops and more shoppers.
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