Photo= A Kyoto Shimbun drone taking to the sky to film for the "Soradori," photo project.

A year and a half has passed since the beginning of the "Soradori" photo project series that presents landscapes of Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures filmed via drone, or a small unmanned aerial vehicle. The series has introduced a variety of landscapes from a perspective unique to drones. They have included National Treasures and World Heritage Sites with a sense of the season, such as a snow-covered Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Tofuku-ji Temple colored with autumn leaves and Hikone Castle with Lake Biwa in the background, while others have shown traditional industries and regional culture, such as tea plantations and ancient tombs.

Marking this year-and-a-half milestone, a project member has selected the most impressive photos and videos to edit into a movie. This digest renews the introduction to Kyoto-Shiga Prefectures' landscapes in their full of charm by shooting close-up, a distance that helicopter cannot approach.

*The video, "Kyoto Shimbun Soradori Digest," a digest of one and a half years of shooting Soradori, can be accessed via the links in the related articles below. The Soradori videos have also been released to the video library of the Kyoto Shimbun news site.

Unauthorized drone video-shooting over shrines, temples, public facilities, urban districts and other places is prohibited. The Kyoto Shimbun uses drones to shoot videos with special permission and with due consideration for safety in the vicinity.

Photo= Rows of Yoshino cherry trees on the Sewaritei bank photographed with a drone. Beyond the rose-pink belt, the Keiji By-pass road and Yamashiro area cityscape can be seen (Shot on April 7, 2017, Yawata, Yawata City, Kyoto Prefecture)