The pictures are gorgeous Sophie! To me Japan seems so much more traditionally beautiful and "explorable" in contrast to South Korea which is pretty much an American replica and hardly has any of its tradition present in big cities. I really hope I can make a trip to Japan sometime this year.

Absolutely beautiful, Sophie!

So beautiful! I visited a bunch of shrines and temples in Kyoto a year ago, and I just remember feeling so calm and down-to-earth walking through them.

xx Alyssa

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There is something incredibly peaceful about those places. Even the ever popular temples surrounded by tourists, just breathtaking moments you will never forget.


Gemma
www.fadedwindmills.com

This place is absolutely beautiful

Xoxo

http://fashionbackyard.blogspot.fr

Looks beautiful. I can't wait for the opportunity to go to Tokyo. And I completely understand you about the crowds. It sometimes turns it into a more hectic experience where you want to rush through things just to get away from the crowd. I hope you were still able to enjoy it though.

Girl Against Oleka

It looks so inspirational. Love the last pic of fish.

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Beautiful photos. I find that the same when I visit popular tourist spots in the world -- they are crowded with people. I guess that is reality though :)

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Love your photos. I dream of visiting these beautiful shrines and temples someday. I totally feel the same way as you, though - it's so difficult to enjoy a serene place of worship when there are so many tourists and visitors scrambling about. I visited the same temple twice because I wanted some photos of it without a ton of heads in my frame, but I had to give up on that idea :/ I guess we just have to appreciate the smaller, quieter ones that much more! :)

Your pictures are always amazing. So fun to see Japan through your well curated creative eyes :-)

Thank you so much, Isabel!

We rarely visit super popular, tourist places because of the crowds and it ruins the feel of the holiday. I'd much rather visit the smaller, lesser known sites - not to be pretentious but so we can really feel the culture of a place. I don't think tourist attractions are the right place to enjoy a country.

Thank you.

Oh, those ponds were amazing - I could have watched them all day!

Tokyo was AMAZING and I can't stop thinking about it - I want to go back!

Thank you.

Yes, absolutely. The huge temple was amazing despite being over crowded.

Yes! They are such peaceful, beautiful places to visit.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. It's interesting you say that about Korea; I really want to visit and we have friends that went and said it was amazing.. I'm curious to hear it's an "American replica," I've never heard that said about it before.

This is a beautiful post. Definitely makes me want to go there!
xSarah

I have actually lived there for around 5 months and while its beautiful and food is great and theres lot to see its not very "traditional" if you know what I mean.

It is hard to take it all in when you are visiting such a different culture. I hope you get to go again and spend some more time there.

So beautiful - I've always been drawn to places of religion, i just love the architecture!!

I totally agree! They are just the places you go to say you've been there, but you don't get to take in the culture and experience the city in those places.

DEM CARPS!