Our first visit to Japan was a whirlwind tour of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and then back to Tokyo over 12 days. This collection of images takes us on a three-day jaunt through Kyoto. While the city was extremely busy, we did our best to seek out some of its best-known attractions while finding quieter corners along the way.

Three days was nowhere near enough time to see everything Osaka has to offer, and there were plenty of streets, neighbourhoods and attractions left unexplored. But sometimes a short visit is enough to get a taste of a place, and Osaka certainly left an impression. These images capture a small snapshot of our time there — busy streets, familiar landmarks and a few quieter moments in between — and perhaps, more importantly, left us wanting to come back and explore a little further.

We visited Kyoto for three days at the beginning of November and I was determined to visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine and explore the winding paths through the Torii. To beat the crowds we arrived early in the morning to get a head start.

Instead of heading to Universal Studios in Osaka to get our Hogwarts fix, we chose to visit Warner Brothers Studios in Tokyo. Here they have full size sets including the Forbidden Forest, along with heaps of amazing and imersive scenes from the films - a truly magical experience without the lining up of a theme park.