10-31-13, Thursday

Early wakeup and makeup this morning. We trundle back to the main temple at Koyasan to wait for the sun to come up. More photos are taken at the same spot in the sun with a view of the beautiful temple in the background. Here is the shot that they end up using:

We hear the chanting monks once more in the background and Elsa and I join in the morning sing-along with an old latin round, “Dona Nobis Pacem.” The writer for the JR Wakayama campaign is already hard at work creating the text that will accompany each poster.

We stop to chat on the steps of one of the temple buildings and I tell him about my small writing career and my two websites. One is for my children’s sermons: http://kidsermons.com The other is a children’s book website http://belovedofbeasts.com. 

He plans to show “Princess Ramona, Beloved of Beasts” to his own children when he returns home.

Elsa and I wander around the temple grounds and learn more about the Koyasan historical site and the various deities that were worshipped here.

After the morning shoot at Koyasan, we drive along the Kumanogawa to scout out locations for shots that will be taken in December. We pause to skip some stones and admire the bluffs along the river. Then we scramble back over the river rocks up to the road. 

We climb back into the vans and drive to the small airport on the southwest edge of Wakayama to board the flight to Haneda airport. We say our goodbyes to the staff and tell them to take care until we meet up again in December. The first half of our Wakayama Campaign modeling job is over.It is a short flight back to Tokyo. It is Halloween evening and Elsa will be home in plenty of time for her evening trick-or-treating with friends.