A few of my favorite moments from a trip to Japan!

Around 5am and earlier is about the only time you can find streets anywhere near empty in Asakusa and I managed to catch this jubilation of color at just the right time. It was made even more colorful by decorations for the Sanja Matsuri festival held later that day.

Fushimi Inari Shrine. You have to climb up a mountain through all 10,000 torii gates, so it's incredibly grueling, but wonderful scenery, wild kitty cats, and a great sense of accomplishment all wait for you at the end.

Maybe a little bit morbid, but I find Japanese graveyards so beautiful. So much smooth stone. And when the wind kicks up through the wooden prayer sticks and rattles throughout the whole place, its...a little creepy, but so surreal and almost calming. This one is at a shrine in Wako-shi, in Saitama prefecture. Got lost and ended up here; was definitely a happy accident. Cute sleepy, little rural town.