Ross Churchley

A pair of train tracks and overhead wires run straight past a platform and into the distance.

The stone foundation of a Japanese castle and the white lower walls of the keep. One of the keep windows is decorated with an ornate gable.

Tourists walk through a passage formed by dozens of bright red torii gates extending into the distance.

A small fox statue guarding a torii gate at Fushimi Inari Taisha

A box whose wrapping depicts a mustachioed round doll decorated with gold leaf, flowers, and trees.

Torii gates overlooking the city of Kyoto

A small shinto shrine building nestled between two tall apartment buildings

A view of the mountains surrounding Kyōto. In the foreground, a bridge spans the shallow waters of the Kamo river. There are tour buses on the bridge and people walking on the riverbank path to the left.

A crowd of tourists passes through one of the torii gates of Fushimi Inari shrine.

A back view of Kanazawa Castle's keep. In the background, autumn-coloured trees, a castle turret, and the forested hills of Utatsuyama are visible.

The standard tourist photograph of Kanazawa's Kenrokuen garden. A stone lantern is in front of a pond, and behind it are pine trees, each supported by ropes tied to a tall pole.

A cityscape from an elevated vantage point. In the distance, trees with red, orange, and gold leaves line both sides of a city street, the only gap in an area otherwise densely packed with mid-rise apartments. In the foreground, green trees partially obscure the view.

A stone bridge leads to the outer walls and turret gate of Kanazawa Castle. Trees line the street below the bridge, and the clear sky is dotted with clouds.

A quiet street scene in Kanazawa's historic Higashi Chaya district. There are wooden tea houses built close together with tiled roofs and shoji windows.

A wooden bridge spans a river, with autumn colours covering the hills in the background

A fish market, a standing bar, and other shops built in the arches of an elevated train track.

A red subway car stopped at a long, empty platform that curves into the distance.

A small shrine sandwiched between large office buildings on a side street in Tōkyō.

A moment of relaxation in an urban park setting at sunset. Couples on blankets and small groups are scattered across a grassy field surrounded by trees in autumn colours.

An old-fashioned lamppost suspended between two freeway overpasses

A fountain topped with a cloud and a sword, but which could also be viewed as some sort of cute gremlin

Gee, that's random: Japan

A collection of curiosities from our trip

Every day at five o’clock in the evening, many cities in Japan perform a test of their emergency broadcast systems. To avoid alarming or annoying their residents, the test consists of a pleasant melody to mark the end of the day.

I recorded the melodies in Tōkyō and Kanazawa: the children’s song “Yūyake Koyake” (夕焼小焼) and the classic Westminister Quarters, respectively.

A Japanese sign attached to a telephone pole points to a fire hydrant below

Japanese fire infrastructure

The hydrants are underground

A stamp with a train, Mt Fuji, and a castle

Eki stamps 2024

My notebook's local souvenirs