Caroline and I traveled to Japan and Korea over the course of 2 weeks in late 2016. These were taken with my previous Nikon D700.
After a grueling 13 hour flight from JFK to Tokyo, our internal clocks were bonkers and we were wide awake at 2am at which point we went to Tsukiji fish market for an early breakfast and then walked 3 miles in the middle of the night to Sensoji Temple. Apparently, this is one of the most crowded tourist destinations in Tokyo, but from our own experience, it was quiet and peaceful at this time.
The next day we wandered over to the Shinjuku district.
After spending a few days in Tokyo, we rode the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto via Kanazawa. It’s incredible how fast, quiet and clean these beasts are.
From Kyoto station, we dropped our stuff off in our Ryokan and wandered around a bit, coming across the majestic Higashi Honganji Buddhist temple.
In the following days, we went to northern Kyoto with a full-day bus pass and visited the breathtaking Kinka-ku Ji (the Golden Pavilion). The place was crowded with tourists, but I was able to get a clean shot.
Next, we ventured to the opposite end of Kyoto, down to the Fushimi Inari gates and made the hike all the way to the top.
After a whirlwind rush from Kyoto to Tokyo via a Superexpress Shinkansen to make our 1pm flight, we made it over to Seoul. One of the coolest places we saw was the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, designed by the late Zaha Hadid. Here are shots during the day and in the evening.
One of the great, famous things about Seoul are the street food vendors.
Namsan Tower at night was a pretty sight.
The coup de grace was Gyeongbokgung Palace.
