Kyoto’s second day opened with the trickle of a stream behind our hotel and streets glowing under the winter sun. Enormous gates stood tall against pale skies, wooden shrines whispered their ancient stories, and of course, I made sure to capture some more close-ups of lanterns.

These moments reveal the city’s hidden corners and everyday passages between its iconic sites. Places where temple roofs rise above narrow lanes, where still water reflects bare winter trees, and where a lone bicycle waits by a shuttered shopfront.

A walk through Kyoto’s quiet rhythms, framed by torii gates that mark the boundary between here and something deeper.