Folks, I'll level with you. My workload, due to increasing numbers of private students and my erratic Nova schedule, is going to get worse before it gets better. The long, descriptive entries I used to churn out from time to time may be a thing of the past. (A photo-intensive entry like "Todai-ji: The Great Eastern Temple" takes four or five hours to put together, and I can even remember a few lengthy posts that took me more than a day to finish.) I just don't have the time anymore. I've got a ton of great new pictures to upload, and while nothing would make me happier than a essay of meandering observations to go along with them, I'm stuck with short, pithy captions.

Hopefully my pictures are worth a thousand words and all, but still. I feel bad about it. I like writing.

So, Karuizawa. It's a magnificent mountain town that remains much cooler in the summertime than sauna-like Tokyo, despite being only an hour's Shinkansen ride away. Only the wealthy can afford to build summer homes here, but the scenery is open to anyone who springs for the train ticket and a taxi. My family and I were here because my dad had a business meeting at the Karuizawa Prince Hotel, and he generously brought us along. He unfortunately missed out on every bit of sightseeing, as he was in conference rooms the whole time, but he's used to that.

Though our tour took us through opulent hotel grounds, museums, castles, art galleries, more museums (my mom loves museums), traditional restaurants and golf courses, I only took shots of the scenery. I don't like documenting things just for the sake of documenting things, y'know? If it doesn't look like it'd make a neat postcard, I generally can't be bothered.

The highlight of the whole trip was probably the first place we went. The cab driver gets the credit for this one—he suggested the spot himself. Based on this experience, I'll probably start letting taxi drivers call the shots more often.

It's called Nunobiki Kannon Temple, and the next time someone asks me if I've ever been to an honest-to-god hidden temple built into the side of a mountain, I can say yes.

I have no idea why, but Kannon seems to get all the coolest temples.

I'll pause here to let the awe sink in.

All done? Good, 'cause we've got some climbing to do.

I can't imagine how long it must've taken to carve the tunnels that weave through these cliffs. Statues peek out at you from everywhere—I found a three-inch-tall icon in a crevice, and this Buddha greeted me inside one of the passageways.

Once you emerge from the darkness, this is the view that awaits you.