Kawaii Ema in Kyoto

In June 2015 I had several long meetings scheduled for a difficult project, but I was fortunate that these meetings would be in Kyoto and Osaka. After several days locked-up in meeting rooms in Kyoto and Osaka, our discussions concluded late Friday morning and had a little time to spend as tourists in Kyoto before heading back to Tokyo. There were several choices of places near Kyoto Station to visit, but as a group we eventually chose the Golden Pavilion or Kinkaku-ji. It was very hot and I did get a few postcard perfect photos of the Kinkaku-ji, but I really like the photo I took of a cute ema or wooden prayer board hanging nearby.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f2.8, ISO 100, 1/400 sec.

Is this Japan? or This is Japan?

At the JR Kyoto Station, I spotted a "This is Japan" campaign poster outside the Isetan Department Store. It's quiet an ambitious promotion with a famous bi-racial multi-cultural (Japanese-Italian and raised in France) model. Considering the current controversy and discrimination around the 2015 Miss Universe Japan beauty pageant queen, I find the Isetan promotion very bold and forward thinking in a country that often has hidden racist tendencies.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f5.6, ISO 100, 1/200 sec.