Kyoto Station

For our studio project we are designing the space in front of Kyoto Station. These are some of the photos I have taken as the group I am working with has been exploring Kyoto Station and the surrounding area. This photo is of the stairs in Kyoto Station. This is a ten floor flight of stairs. Under them is a large department store called Ishitan. You can see the entrances to the floors on the right. Each floor is marked by one of the red signs.





This is the view down the sky bridge that runs along the top of the atrium at Kyoto station. All of my aerial views were taken from this walkway.














This is the taxi parking. It is one of the challenges are have to address as it is unsightly and cuts the station off from the rest of Kyoto.










This is the ground floor of Kyoto Station after I got off the train from Myoshinji were we are staying. There are tons of people becuase Kyoto Station severs as the main transfer and drop off point for all the trains in Kyoto.









This is the main entrance to the station.


















Taxis as seen from the ground.












This is the bus station. Like the taxi lot it is unsightly and cuts the station off from Kyoto.












This is a zoomed out view of the stairs from the other side of the atrium. The lower section with all the people is the station's ground floor and is the main way people get to the train platforms.







This is looking from the stairs across the atrium. Performances are held on the platform behind our studio Professor Ron Lovinger and people come and sit of the stairs.

Exploring Daishin-in and Myoshinji

A pair of statues meditating. This is the garden outside of the main hall at Daishin-in, one of the temples we are staying at.













Entrance courtyard for Daishin-in with one of the residents on the path.








A pair of statues in the entrance court















Garden beside the guest house in Daishin-in.























After flying 4000 miles from Seattle, one of the first businesses we saw in the airport was Starbucks.











The main entrance gate to Myoshinji temple complex. Myoshinji is a large complex that has dozens of smaller temples in it, like Daishin-in were we are staying.












A stream running through the local neighborhood.
















The Daishin-in cat













A road in the Myoshinji complex. Most of the local residential roads are about this wide but paved with asphalt and have three to four story townhouses along them.

Arrival

I have reached Kyoto. The drive here was amazing. There were so many apartment high rises and neighborhoods of cramped town homes, shopping districts and industry. It was familiar but extremely different at the same time. Besides the housing there were more sights and features to the buildings than I have time this morning to describe. So I will be relying on photos extensively to document my travels. It is also very hot and humid. So when you look at these pictures imagine these scenes in Hawaii or Florida.
I hope everyone was able to find this blog with a minimum amount of fuss. I hope you find it informative about my travels in Japan, the sights I see and what I am up to school wise. I also would like to apologize before hand for any typos and technical problems on this blog. This is the first time I have ever kept a blog and it will be a learning experience for all.