I filmed a tourism commercial for the region on Wakayama and we shot at Kamikura shrine at sunrise having woke up at 3:45 to get up there. I managed between takes to capture a couple of stills which you see below. It is a beautiful shrine and the incredibly steep 500 steps leading up to it makes it a hard but rewarding climb especially when you are carrying up a lot of gear. The whole crew was sitting around exhausted catching their breathe at the top when an old lady with a bent back who looked to be in her eighties walked past and said good morning in the most genki (happy/spritely) way. I was honestly shocked that she could make it up and down the stairs but it appears that it was her morning ritual.
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