In his own words:

“One afternoon during Hana-mi (Cherry Blossom Viewing season) My wife took me along a river that is near our home. Little did I know that this river would meander through this perfect little paradise.

Negawa is the stream between Koushu kaido and Tamagawa that runs along the north of Tachikawa Sports Park which is a baseball stadium.  To get there you can take the JR Chuo line and transfer to the Tama Toshi Monorail Line.  Get off at the Shibasaki-Taiikukan Station (one stop from Tachikawa-minami) and walk right (west) or left (east towards Kunitachi) along the river. This picture was taken on the east side.

I hope your readers enjoy the picture and I hope some of them actually take the time to go there. They will not be let down. It’s actually 10 times more beautiful in real life.

Here is a Google Map of the Negawa Stream in Tachikawa (in Japanese)”

See more of TokyoDan’s photos of Negawa Stream or visit his website, TokyoDan.com.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

In his own words:

“For we weekend mountaineers, time is precious; I’d climbed through the night on Friday from Shin-Hotaka, Nagano, to the ridge below Mt Kasa-ga-take under a starry sky, but already wisps of clouds were racing across the stratosphere. After a quick bivouac for a few hours I started out again into a blazing red sunrise, but already the first few drops of rain were falling. By mid morning I was climbing through a late summer storm, making the summits of both Mt Suisho-dake and Mt Washiba. From each I’d gazed out through the driving rain, trying to imagine the breathtaking panoramas that are supposed to be the reserve of those who made it to those lofty peaks.

Having given up hope, I started down the mountain to find somewhere to camp for the night, when the rain lifted for a few brief moments before sunset. The entire valley appeared, and in the distance, in the midst of those swirling clouds, rose Mt Yari-ga-take, the perfect spear that its name suggests.

It was as unexpected as it was memorable. Suddenly my wet boots and the prospect of another chilly night on the mountain didn’t seem so bad after all.”

Read more about Chris’s mountainous adventures in Japan on his blog  i,cjw – hiking and climbing in japan and see more fabulous photos from this trip in his article “Into the Mist“.  Chris was also recently featured in an interview at 7:10 to Tokyo where he shares what he loves about Tokyo along with some interesting tales on mountaineering and a close call with the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia).

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

In his own words:

“I had already been shooting at Meiji Jingu Shrine in Yoyogi for about two hours and I was getting many of the same kinds of shots.  So for this shot I was really trying to find a shot different from all the others I had taken earlier that day.  There was also the matter of being able to get in position for any kind of shot because there were many other photographers there jockeying for position, even bumping into you!  I was able to get in front of most of the photographers, and get low (one one knee) and frame the shot as seen.  I thought the kimonos and especially the bags the girls were holding with them were eye catching, and that anonymity would make them stand out more. “

Dressing in a Kimono is a complicated affair and these young women pull it off well.

Jason’s previous addition The Nihon Sun Photo Gallery was a beautiful shot of  Mt. Fuji and you can see more great images from Seiji no Hi by Jason Collin on his website .

These and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

In his own words:

“This picture of Yokohama’s waterfront was taken from Landmark Tower. The tower has the fastest elevators in the world, reaching 12.5 meters/second as they carry tourists up to the observation deck. This was my first time in Yokohama- I was on a Christmas Eve date, which seems to be the only acceptable way to go out on the 24th. Whether we were on the train, strolling the pier, or waiting in line for the elevator, Yokohama was a sea of young couples. “

Read more about David’s adventures in Japan and see more great photos of Yokohama and his Christmas Eve date on his blog Shack in Japan.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

In his own words:

“After finishing my day trip to Jomon-sugi (a whopper of a tree, rumoured to be up to 7000 years old) and a visit to the mysterious Mononoke-hime forests, I retired to the youth hostel. The next day, I experienced some excellent shallow-water diving along the coasts of Yakushima before packing up and getting ready to go back to Kumamoto. But I couldn’t ignore the rumble in my stomach. Ikumi, Yuhei and I ventured to the nearby giftshop, where we found a restaurant on the second floor…

The meal of the day was tobiuo – the flying fish of Yakushima, and seeing as I’d come this far, I figured I’d splash out my remaining yen on this surprisingly cheap but very tasty set meal. The sashimi was great. It was a little chewy here and there due to the freshness, but a welcome treat nonetheless. Just as I was finishing the juicy fish, I peeked behind the decorative green leaf adorning my meal. Staring back at me was a large, dilated pupil! I almost felt a litle guilty for devouring the rest of the fish after that. After all, nobody expects their meal to be watching them!

It wouldn’t stop me coming back for a second helping next time, however. Definitely recommended!”

Read more about Michael’s adventures on Yakushima on his blog Knowing Nothing.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

Takayama is located in Gifu Prefecture, one of nine prefectures that make up the Chubu Region of Japan.

In her own words:

“This photo was taken in Hida Takayama in late October 2008. The shop is one of several in traditional buildings on the edge of town, near the open air museum and the Gassho-En where we were staying. It was a grey day and chillier than we had expected, or dressed for, and this parasol seemed to beckon to us from across the road, its brilliant red promising warmth and friendliness within.

Details: Pentax K20D, Tamron 18-250mm “

Danielle also contributed Shinto Priests at Meiji Jingu to the Symbolic Japan section of photo gallery.

You can find more of Danielle’s photography on her Flickr page and observations on life as an expat wife and aspiring writer in Japan at her blog Narrative Disorder.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

In his own words:

“This single frame image was shot from the balcony of our flat in Minami-oi, Tokyo that overlooks the Daiichi Keihin road, or Route 15, which runs from Nihombashi to Yokohama. It was taken as dusk fell in late November (around 5PM).

I tried this originally as an HDR, but shooting multiple frames when the traffic is moving is not easy and especially not so when the individual frames (because of the light level) involved some quite long exposures.

Nikon D300 Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ f/6.3 One frame exposed at 1/2sec ISO 250 Slight shift of color and tonal contrast using Nik plugin for Photoshop. Slight dodging and burning to lift exposure in certain areas.”

See more of Alfie’s photography on his photo blog titled Photographer in Japan or peruse his articles and more of his work at Japanorama.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

You may also enjoy taking a look at what other Japan bloggers and residents see from their homes and offices in Looking Out The Window in Japan, a compilation of sixteen different views of Japan.

In his own words:

“These guys are standing by their “dekochari” bikes. Dekochari are the pushbike version of dekotora (decorated trucks) you see every now and then in Japan. The difference is that dekochari riders are too young to get a truck drivers license. I spent a day in deepest darkest Ibaragi taking pictures for a story. This picture was taken just before a huge thunderstorm. There weren’t many photos after that because all those lights (and a car battery over the back wheel) are a bit of an electrical hazard in the rain! “

See all Tony’s images of these unique decochari customized bikes or more of his great images on his website at tonymcnicol.com.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

In her own words:

“This shot was taken at Meiji Jingu in Tokyo on Nov 3rd 2008, the final day of the Autumn Festival. While watching a musical performance on a temporary stage at the crossroads, without any signal as far as I was aware, the Japanese people started to turn from the stage and look down the road toward the shrine. It seemed strangely rude behavior for the Japanese since the musicians were still playing and neither I nor the other gaijin (foreigners) noticing the change and peering in the same direction could see anything down the road.

After a minute or so the musicians, too, ceased and the whole crowd in front of the stage shifted their focus away from the stage, many leaving prime positions to line up along the road, and a mood of solemn expectation settled on the crowd. It was a good several minutes before these priests came into view and another few till they reached us and the crowd was completely silent all the while. As they neared the Japanese began to bow causing several gaijin to check themselves and lower their cameras until the Japanese themselves straightened and raised their own cameras.

At this point a group of large gaijin crowded in front of me to take shots and my view was blocked. Before I got my new beauty, this would have annoyed me no end but I just switched my camera to live-view and held it up over the shoulders of two of the rude men and watched through my viewfinder and snapped this shot – hooray for live-view!”

Photo details: Pentax K20D, Tamron 18-250 lens

You can find more of Danielle’s photography on her Flickr page and observations on life as an expat wife and aspiring writer in Japan at her blog Narrative Disorder.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

Jason Collin has agreed to be the first guest photographer at The Nihon Sun and it is with much pride that we present his image “Mt. Fuji Above The Clouds”.

Jason captured this shot after about 3.5 hours of hard hiking got him to the summit of Akadake (2899m) in Nagano Prefecture on October 12th.

“Mt. Fuji is usually shrouded in clouds so I felt very lucky to find such a clear view of the mountain especially after lugging my heavy Nikon D80 along with two lenses up a net ascent of 1200m.

Mt. Fuji appeared quite small and distant to the naked eye, but I was able to capture the shot you see with full 200mm zoom (300mm effective).

I was very pleased to get this shot and others from the summit of Akadake.”

Purchase a print of Mt. Fuji Above the Clouds at Photrade or see more great photos by Jason Collin on his website.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.