{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "user_comment": "This feed allows you to read the posts from this site in any feed reader that supports the JSON Feed format. To add this feed to your reader, copy the following URL -- https://thezone.firewave.com.au/json/ -- and add it your reader.", "home_page_url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/", "feed_url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/json/", "title": "the zone", "description": "A blog of photos, mostly, at thezone.firewave.com.au", "icon": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/images/site/site_icon_2017.jpg", "favicon": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/images/site/site_favicon_2017.jpg", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" }, "items": [ { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/elevated/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/elevated/", "title": "elevated", "content_html": "
\"elevated\"
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Another appreciation of the sakura \u685c and architecture at Ninna-ji \u4ec1\u548c\u5bfa.

", "date_published": "2026-09-23T17:32:44+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-23T17:32:44+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/in-flames/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/in-flames/", "title": "in flames", "content_html": "
\"in
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After a further walk around I left for the streets, headed west and then chanced upon the sprawling Ninna-ji \u4ec1\u548c\u5bfa complex, looking particularly resplendent with sakura \u685c in bloom throughout.

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Seen here, the lower structure of the temple's bell tower, crisp branches and fluffy flowers.

", "date_published": "2026-09-21T18:00:28+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-21T18:00:28+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/memory-lane/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/memory-lane/", "title": "memory lane", "content_html": "
\"memory
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The grounds of Ry\u014dan-ji \u9f8d\u5b89\u5bfa were mostly empty.

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These days, with four times the number of tourists visiting Japan annually, perhaps it would be rarer to have this experience.

", "date_published": "2026-09-01T17:51:21+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-01T17:51:21+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/the-forest-for-the-trees/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/the-forest-for-the-trees/", "title": "the forest for the trees", "content_html": "
\"the
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Walking through the gardens of Ry\u014dan-ji \u9f8d\u5b89\u5bfa.

", "date_published": "2026-08-20T18:35:58+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-20T18:35:58+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/debris-field/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/debris-field/", "title": "debris field", "content_html": "
\"debris
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With the weather alternating between cloudy and sunny and a breeze sweeping through, petals settled on the roof of the clay perimeter wall of the garden. A few people sat in the sun on the wooden verandah and let their thoughts be siphoned into the gravel below.

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Of the few photos I took at Ry\u014dan-ji \u9f8d\u5b89\u5bfa, this might be the least compositionally minimalist, but I like it the best for its textures.

", "date_published": "2026-08-12T18:12:09+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-12T18:12:09+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/failure-modes/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/failure-modes/", "title": "failure modes", "content_html": "
\"failure
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After shelving shoes at the entrance of Ry\u014dan-ji \u9f8d\u5b89\u5bfa and moving inside, the familiar sight of water-filled buckets lined up beside an exterior walkway.

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These are commonplace across temples and shrines in Kyoto \u4eac\u90fd due to the aforementioned risks. While there are more modern fire prevention systems too, when you want people to act quickly in an emergency situation and a moment of panic, everyone will understand how to use a bucket.

", "date_published": "2026-08-09T18:57:55+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-09T18:57:55+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/scattered/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/scattered/", "title": "scattered", "content_html": "
\"scattered\"
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From Kinkaku-ji \u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa it's an easy walk (following the road that borders the forested hills) to Ry\u014dan-ji \u9f8d\u5b89\u5bfa, the location of Japan's most famous dry landscape Zen garden.

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But it also has a beautiful water garden too, which you wander through part of when you arrive, under weeping branches and by uprising blooms.

", "date_published": "2026-08-06T18:01:06+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-06T18:01:06+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/already-gone/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/already-gone/", "title": "already gone", "content_html": "
\"already
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After enjoying the gardens it was time to move on, but first: pausing for a moment to recharge with more delicious matcha \u62b9\u8336 and vanilla ice cream. You'll just have to imagine the beautiful swirl that was atop it before I nommed.

", "date_published": "2026-07-30T22:24:48+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-07-30T22:24:48+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/centre-of-gravity/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/centre-of-gravity/", "title": "centre of gravity", "content_html": "
\"centre
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While the golden pavilion is the iconic sight of the complex, the current structure is relatively new, having been rebuilt in 1955 after it was destroyed by arson in 1950. By contrast, if you follow the loop of sprawling gardens you'll arrive at Fudo-do \u4e0d\u52d5\u5802, the oldest building in the complex at over 400 years old.

", "date_published": "2026-06-27T21:31:02+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-06-27T21:31:02+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/ignition/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/ignition/", "title": "ignition", "content_html": "
\"ignition\"
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I think Kinkaku-ji \u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa looks even better through the trees.

", "date_published": "2026-05-12T15:57:26+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-05-12T15:57:26+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/live-in-the-future/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/live-in-the-future/", "title": "live in the future", "content_html": "
\"live
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Up the next morning and feeling much better, the throat soreness now subsided but congestion remaining, I ventured downstairs and had the Japanese-style hotel breakfast (a rare thing for me, since I usually like to get straight outside). It was satisfying, and the coffee a welcome boost.

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Then, into the subway to push north to Kita\u014dji Station \u5317\u5927\u8def\u99c5 before finding the right bus to go to my first stop of the day: Kinkaku-ji \u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa.

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It might be compulsory to take this photo if you're sightseeing in Kyoto \u4eac\u90fd.

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From the right angle, with the sun hitting it directly, the gold feels like a glitch in spacetime. Like you're playing a game where the developer stuck the texture on as a placeholder and forgot to fix it before it shipped. It's sort of magical that this object exists at all.

", "date_published": "2026-04-28T18:21:35+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-28T18:21:35+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/germans-and-coffee/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/germans-and-coffee/", "title": "Germans and coffee", "content_html": "
\"Germans
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On the way back to Kyoto \u4eac\u90fd I met an older German couple and allayed their concerns about which train to take before we all settled in for the trip. We had a nice chat about where they'd been and what they'd seen, their time in other countries (including Australia) and their love of coffee. They lamented that finding a great coffee had been difficult in Japan, but that the opposite was true in Australia, where you can get an excellent cup just about anywhere (a notion that I've heard many times over the years since). It's true, Aussies love their coffee!

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That evening after dinner, what had started as a vague feeling of discomfort rapidly evolved into a congested and runny nose and the distinctive onset of a sore throat. I ventured out, grabbing a mocha from Starbucks on the way (which is not great coffee, but anything can taste good if you add enough sugar), and tried my best at the nearest pharmacy to get something that would help. The staff were wonderfully helpful and gave me some medicine that really improved things over the next day.

", "date_published": "2026-03-17T23:32:45+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-03-17T23:32:45+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/feel-this-way/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/feel-this-way/", "title": "feel this way", "content_html": "
\"feel
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One last photo at Kasuga-taisha \u6625\u65e5\u5927\u793e before I started walking back to the train station, via the backstreets, across the painted manhole covers of deer and trees and past a few mysterious BNE WATER ORG stickers that were briefly a source of entertainment for some.

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It was also at this point that I was starting to feel a bit less than 100% and wondered if I was just fatigued from so much walking.

", "date_published": "2026-02-23T00:30:21+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-02-23T00:30:21+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/in-the-shadows/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/in-the-shadows/", "title": "in the shadows", "content_html": "
\"in
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After a walk through the surrounds, back near the main buildings of Kasuga-taisha \u6625\u65e5\u5927\u793e.

", "date_published": "2026-01-21T18:09:27+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-01-21T18:09:27+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/sentinel/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/sentinel/", "title": "sentinel", "content_html": "
\"sentinel\"
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Lanterns at Kasuga-taisha \u6625\u65e5\u5927\u793e, lining the edges of the forrest like giant stone mushrooms.

", "date_published": "2025-12-27T22:32:03+10:00", "date_modified": "2025-12-27T22:32:03+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/the-slow-burn/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/the-slow-burn/", "title": "the slow burn", "content_html": "
\"the
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A few people were in the main shrine buildings, where bronze and gold lanterns consume the corridors, hanging from every available point.

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Outside, the forrest around Kasuga-taisha \u6625\u65e5\u5927\u793e pulled away the noise and all that was left was the light spilling through.

", "date_published": "2025-12-24T14:57:50+10:00", "date_modified": "2025-12-24T14:57:50+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/vanishing-points/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/vanishing-points/", "title": "vanishing points", "content_html": "
\"vanishing
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Although Kasuga-taisha \u6625\u65e5\u5927\u793e may not be high on the list of destinations for most tourists, I felt it was one of the best shrines to visit. Its layout is unique and there is plenty to absorb and appreciate if you like architecture and design.

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There are two points in the year where they light 3,000 of the lanterns, which must be a beautiful sight. Maybe one day I'll be able to return on the right date for that, but I suspect it will be significantly busier than during my time there!

", "date_published": "2025-12-22T14:01:08+10:00", "date_modified": "2025-12-22T14:01:08+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/a-step-apart/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/a-step-apart/", "title": "a step apart", "content_html": "
\"a
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Amongst the iterated lanterns of Kasuga-taisha \u6625\u65e5\u5927\u793e, where there were more deer than people.

", "date_published": "2025-11-25T04:33:03+10:00", "date_modified": "2025-11-25T04:33:03+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/alternative-paths/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/alternative-paths/", "title": "alternative paths", "content_html": "
\"alternative
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Quaint paths back down the hill from Nigatsu-d\u014d \u4e8c\u6708\u5802, circling counter-clockwise around other temples and back via the bell tower, then south east a kilometre and into the forest to Kasuga-taisha \u6625\u65e5\u5927\u793e.

", "date_published": "2025-10-26T23:37:26+10:00", "date_modified": "2025-10-26T23:37:26+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } }, { "id": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/fire-water-bronze/", "url": "https://thezone.firewave.com.au/fire-water-bronze/", "title": "fire, water, bronze", "content_html": "
\"fire,
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Lanterns at Nigatsu-d\u014d \u4e8c\u6708\u5802, where a few years later I would happen to be there again with friends on the night of the Shuni-e \u4fee\u4e8c\u4f1a, a ceremony which has been taking place annually for over 1200 years.

", "date_published": "2025-10-21T17:46:07+10:00", "date_modified": "2025-10-21T17:46:07+10:00", "author": { "name": "Lance Birch" } } ] }