Nagano Photo Tours can focus on just the city of Obuse to be complete.  The city is home to several temples, hot springs, museums, galleries, and many other appeals.

Ganshoin Temple is one location in Obuse that is exceedingly breathtaking.  From the moment you see the two guardian demons at the entrance just outside the main temple, you know you’ve entered into a spiritual world. During the evening or midday, the temple’s guardians make for a memorable introduction to the temple as well as your first photo op while visiting the temple.

Part of what makes the temple so amazing and such a unique photo op is the temple’s link to the most famous artists of the Edo Period, Katsushika Hokusai.  His painting of a phoenix on the ceiling of the temple is truly breathtaking to behold.  Traditionally, photography is not allowed on the temple, but leave the negotiations to your Japan Dreamscapes (JDS) Photo Workshop Leader.  It’s not a guarantee, but it the painting is treated with the appropriate level of reverence, a photo may be possible.

The work itself, bespeaks Hokusai’s inherent knowledge of how to incorporate lasting colors into his works.  Although the masterpiece was completed more than 150 years ago, the colors still shine with the magnificence they held on the first day they were laid to the immense canvas.  No retouching has been done, so if you see one temple in Obuse, it must be Ganshoin Temple.

The pond nearby the temple is famous for inspiring one of Kobayashi Issa’s most moving poems.  Each spring, toads arrive in numbers too large to count, and because it looks more like a heated conflict that propagation, the pond has the name “Kaeru-Gassen-no-Ike,” a pond of fighting toads.  Their arrival makes for amazing wildlife photography as part of the temple visit on your Nagano Photo Tour.  The poem that Issa wrote is inscribed onto a stone, making the area even more photogenic as you can enjoy the artistic inspirations framed with natural, vibrant landscapes.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  There are so many more feature that your JDS Photography Workshop Guide can introduce you to on your visit.