Last week, winter wanted to make a comeback and for a few days really kept us in check. Temperatures plummeted and for several days we also had quite a bit of snow. Well, that's not unusual for February, at least not for this part of Japan, even if winter was holding back until then. There used to be a lot more snow, and I've also experienced very different winters before.

January had been too mild this year, but now winter was returning. For three days, every afternoon and evening it had snowed around 10 centimeters, making the world around you look like a winter wonderland in many places. Until then, the roads were still quite passable, at least on my routes, and fortunately I got to my appointments and back home again quite easily.

And I wasn't always in a hurry, I had enough time to take the occasional opportunity to stop and take a closer look at my city. All the snow created a very special atmosphere and the world showed itself from a very special, wonderful side. And I didn't want to miss out on it.

Last Friday morning, as I passed the entrance to a shrine I had visited and explored some time ago, I felt the urge to stop again. I had actually already driven past and gone my way, but since I had planned a little extra time, I decided to turn around and drive back. I didn't want to miss out on this sight and wanted to take a few pictures to my ever-growing collection,

And so, shortly afterwards, I was standing in front of these red tooris, those striking gates that you can spot in front of many shrines here in Japan.

That morning, however, they were even brighter than usual, which was probably due to the white snow, which made the red color stand out very clearly. It was like a signal to me that I didn't want to miss out after all.

Here at this local shrine, there is a whole row of these red gates in front of the entrance, which had been snowed in that morning. The snow was still quite fresh, but the footprints in front of me showed that a few other visitors had already come by.

I didn't have enough time to walk into the shrine, but I only wanted to take a few photos of the entrance area. It was precisely because of these pictures that I had turned around and stopped.

This shrine is dedicated to Inari, the fox goddess, and you will find several fox statues there. And the two fox statues on the right...

...and to the left of the entrance were completely snowed in. It had snowed around 10 centimeters the night before, which is actually quite a lot. But the big snow was yet to fall, the next night we would get another 30 centimeters, and I would have liked to see what this place looked like afterwards.

But the sight that presented itself to me was already magical and impressive, so I took some photos already in the early morning. I added more photos during the rest of the day, some of which you will see in the next few days. Winter sometimes conjures up the most magnificent landscapes, and you should definitely take a closer look at them. It's good for your mood and helps to put a smile on your face early in the morning. A smile that can last all day...