Japan Day 8: Gyoen Garden & Nijo Castle

2025-12-20T00:00:00.000Z

Left my hotel before noon (finally) and made my way to the Kyoto Gyoen National Garden. Today was the first day using my new FujiFilm camera. I can finally put all my fuckass camera knowledge to the test!

The tops of a few buildings, centered on a white staircase A tree with a thick zig-zag branch in dynamic lighting A teal karahafu roof on the perimeter wall with trees in the background A golden karahafu roof on the perimeter wall with trees in the background

Any normal person would have gone to the main palace, but I’m not normal (I’ve been here before). I instead had my eyes set on the Omiya and Sento Imperial Palace garden since they’d run out of tickets last time. Honestly the perimeter wall was prettier than the garden LOL.

A line of people walking over a wooden bridge taken taken direcrtly from above and behind A small pond surrounded by red fallen leaves A stone bridge with a wooden roof in the middle of a large pond The corner of a stone bridge taken from an isometric angle

A keen eye will notice that I’m struggling to correctly expose my photos, and highkey I don’t know how to use Lightroom yet, so cope and seethe loser.

After a pitstop for an acai bowl (it was really yummy), I visited Nijo castle again. It was the only place close enough to visit before the sunset, and one of my faves. They don’t let you take photos inside, but it was the dwelling of the Shogun and contained many ornate rooms for visitations. It was cool seeing the difference between the coziness of the living quarters compared to the imposing aura of the visitation rooms. Here are some photos from outside tho:

The golden ornamentation on the supports of a gate to Nijo Castle in moody lighting A wooden gegyo centered and focused in the background surrounded by foliage and the silhouette of another roof in the foreground An large open wooden door framing a identical wooden door in the distant background taken in a flat perspective