The sun has gone home. The mountains behind the city are clearer now than when the light was at its strongest. Lights are coming on across the city. The deck I stood on may not be there much longer.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Godaisan, Kochi

#kochi #bluehour #larryphoto

A little wind on the deck. The golden light still lay over the city, but it was drawing back. Kochi and I waited together for the sun to go down.

Twenty-five minutes, compressed into two.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Godaisan Observation Deck, Kochi

#kochi #sunset #larryphoto

A temporary wooden deck, standing in until the new one is built. From the top, the city lay under a layer of golden air, keeping quiet company with the last light of the day.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Godaisan Observation Deck, Kochi

#kochi #sunset #larryphoto

The stone here has worn down badly and on many of the Jizo the face is no longer clear. But the red caps and capes on the three larger ones are new, crocheted by hand. You can see the care in every stitch.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Chikurin-ji, Kochi

#kochi #jizo #larryphoto

Inside this small hall sits the Hitokoto Jizo. Hitokoto means "one word": you may only ask for one thing at a time. The rows of small wooden Jizo around him each stand for one person's one wish.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Hitokoto Jizo, Chikurin-ji

#kochi #jizo #larryphoto

A three-storey pagoda stood here until a typhoon brought it down in 1899. The one standing now was built in 1980. Walking up the steps, the maples were very close. I wondered whether they could feel my breath.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Chikurin-ji, Kochi

#kochi #larryphoto

He is Zenzai Doji, a boy who set out to find the way and visited fifty-three teachers on the road. Behind him the maple burned red. He stood in the middle of it, head lowered, hands together.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Chikurin-ji, Kochi

#kochi #japantemple #larryphoto

I had almost finished when I noticed the low afternoon light, so I walked back. It fell across the five coloured cloths, the wooden ema and the gold sign. You can see the pattern woven into the cloth.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Chikurin-ji, Kochi

#kochi #japantemple #larryphoto

The chain hanging from these eaves is a kusari-doi, a drainpipe carrying rainwater from the roof to the ground. They say it was made to be looked at from the start: the falling water is the point.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Chikurin-ji, Kochi

#kochi #japantemple #larryphoto

From below, the steps ran up through the maples. From above, the stone paving ran underneath them instead. The same path, turned around. Oh, and the traveller on the bench was still sitting there.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Chikurin-ji, Kochi

#kochi #autumnleaves #larryphoto

They say many deer once lived on this mountain, until a sickness took them one by one. This stone deer was left so people today could still see them. It seems happy enough, looking up at the maples.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Chikurin-ji, Kochi

#kochi #japantemple #larryphoto

Did you notice? She is smiling right at us, and there is a cub tucked against her chest. The mother wears a red cloth; the cub wears a child's bib with little bears printed on it.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Hiyoshi Shrine, Chikurin-ji

#kochi #komainu #larryphoto

The beams inside this gate are covered with paper slips, each one carrying a name. People who could not stay overnight to pray left one instead, as if they themselves were still standing there.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Niomon Gate, Chikurin-ji

#kochi #japantemple #larryphoto

The first hall I stopped at was ringed with green, orange and red maple. Someone has thought hard about how this garden is planted. Through the gaps in the leaves, the hall felt old and simple.

Captured on Dec 1, 2025 | Chikurin-ji, Kochi

#kochi #autumnleaves #larryphoto