25.08.2025 京都 Kyoto, Japan

2 Hours in Kyoto

On our way from Kobe to Tokyo, we decided to stop in Kyoto. Just two hours. A short pause between cities.

Shot 2023
Ricoh FF-9
Kodak Gold 200
19 frames

The Shinkansen makes the full trip from Kobe to Tokyo (475 kilometers) in a little over three hours. We stepped off halfway through, walked a few quiet streets, and shot a roll of Kodak Gold. It was a spontaneous visit, but even in that short time, the city’s presence—its age, structure, and stillness—stood out.

Kyoto once served as Japan’s imperial capital for over a thousand years. That weight still lingers. Even in winter light, even in passing.

Later, back on the train, somewhere before reaching Tokyo, Mount Fuji appeared. Just for a moment. That’s the last frame on the roll—and the start of the next chapter.

Platform sign reading "for Nagoya, Tōkyō" hanging beneath a steel station canopy, Japan — 202335C17-05

Entrance of a traditional building with tiled roofs, wooden doors and a small garden between modern facades, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-22

Old wooden townhouse with a tiled awning beside a modern building with a shop window, quiet street, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-11

Quiet street with a red post box, a potted agave and wooden benches in front of modern shopfronts, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-23

Red taxi with "taxi" on its door passing along a sunny street lined with shops, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-13

Empty Shinkansen platform under a steel canopy, a sign reading 新神戸 Shin-Kobe on a stained concrete wall, Kobe, Japan — 202335C17-10

Dark taxi with a clover roof light parked by a wooden wall with a tiled coping and pine trees, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-24

Clover-shaped taxi roof light on a dark car in front of an ochre wall with a tiled coping and pines, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-25

Traditional two-story wooden corner house with tiled roofs, a no-entry sign and a utility pole, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-15

Corner of a covered shopping street with shuttered shops, a slatted wooden facade and bollards in the sun, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-17

Woman with a knit headband and scarf sitting with a backpack on a sunlit station platform, Kobe, Japan — 202335C17-09

Blue-and-white ceramics on a small wooden table on the street, with a sign reading "Antique belle", Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-16

White-tiled stairway with green handrails leading down into a subway station, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-26

Silver subway car with a green stripe framed between pillars, a Karasuma Oike sign on the wall, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-28

Illuminated station sign reading "Karasuma Oike" on a tiled wall in a subway passage, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-29

Subway train waiting at the Karasuma Oike platform, seen between concrete pillars, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-30

Self-portrait of the photographer and a companion in a mirror on a tiled wall of a subway station, Kyoto, Japan — 202335C17-27

Factory buildings with a "Sekisui" sign and distant mountains, seen from a moving train, Japan — 202335C17-31

Snow-capped Mount Fuji above autumn-colored hills and a residential area, seen from the train, Japan — 202335C17-36