Sites From the Ancient Imperial Capital

	Here's a shot of... umm... the temple next to the largest wooden structure in Japan at least. Maybe the world. I forget. The actual temple is under repair until 2007 or so. We did get to tour the inside at least, and it was certainly huge.
	Here's the spot where they moved all the ceremonial equipment from the main building. This smaller temple is no slouch for size, but still everything looked a bit cramped.
	Behind these curtains is where all that stuff would have been. It's a pity I didn't get a shot of the pillars as those were huge.
	So huge, in fact, that all rope-making materials at the time of the buildings construction were inadequate to haul them from Hokkaido or lift the beams they support. the answer: human hair! That's right, this rope is made of hair donated by followers to help construct the temple. That's a frickin' lot of hair. There were, of course, many ropes like this.
	As is clearly explained by this sign.
	And the coolest thing about the building? This dragin water spout. These things are awesome.
	Next stop: a Zen garden. Oh, and the surrounding temple, of course.I've always liked Aen gardens.
	Hence why I have several pictures.
	Seriously, take your pick.
	No, no. Take your time. I don't mind.
	What? You're done already? Fine, just this last one then with a close-up of one of the rocks.
	The temple also had cool moss gardens like this, but come on, can moss really compare to rocks? Nothing beats rock!
	We then visited the golden shrine. I forget it's real name but it is, of course, very famous. This is actually a really cool view when the rain isn't messing up the reflecting pool so much.
	A closer shot. The upper stories really are made of solid gold.............. painted wood. Still pretty expensive.
	I want to see this in spring when that tree's in bloom and it's nice and sunny out.
	If I understood our guide, this used to be the grounds of a samurai's private residence. Man, that guy must have been loaded.
	A nice close-up shot.
	Here's one from the other viewing area.
	I like how the mist rolls off the mountains out here. You can barely see it in this shot, but check out the Hakkodate shots for a lot of said mist.
	I thought this building looked cool. This was my view from my hotel room.
	Well, ok, this was my view. Similar to Tokyo, eh? Why couldn't it have been this sunny while we were taking that tour of the city?
	And here, once again, is the ubiquitous train yard.