Hokkaidō Shrine, Hokkaido, Japan. October 2016

I’m in the middle of editing my blog posts from when I went to Hokkaido in the fall of 2016. As such, I found a photo capturing the essence of ‘solitude’.  During Day 2 of our trip, we visited Hokkaidō Shrine.  For those of you who know, whenever you enter a Japanese shrine, there is a tradition and custom for all visitors to cleanse themselves at the chōzuya (or temizuya) with the provided ladle and holy water in a specific routine.  After we had done this cleansing routine and entered the shrine to take photos and walk around, I found myself waiting for my relatives and for our scheduled time to get back on to the tour bus for the next stop of our trip.  While waiting, I ventured back out to the entrance of the shrine and found the chōzuya completely empty and devoid of people.  I think this photo shows solitude as I was the only one in this area — an area meant for many people to gather together to wash up.  This is shown by the many ladles placed face down and ready for visitors.  There’s a certain peace and quiet about this photo.  Many times, it’s good when travelling in a group to venture out by yourself to search out for some inner peace and quiet in your own soul.