With that goal in mind, I joined nine other photographers from Japan to bring you The View From Japan, a new photo blog that goes beyond the typical in an attempt to capture the essence of Japan.   I was recently interviewed on the Japan Podshow about this project and was asked about the Top 10 things to photograph in Japan.  We had a good time chatting about some of the typical and not so typical shots and encourage everyone to get out their camera, explore the county, and capture their own unique view from Japan.

Local Markets

Head out to a local market.  Fish markets vegetable markets, even grocery stores, in Japan are quite different to those found in North America and offer insight into the lives of the Japanese through the food that they eat.  Take advantage of your jet lag and head for the Tsukiji Morning Market to photograph the bounty of the sea in Tokyo – it’s an amazing experience.

Matsuri

Head out to a festival, small or large, well know or obscure, to find revelers strolling about in yukata, mikoshi (portable shrines) paraded about by men in traditional dress, vendors selling all manner of food, and taiko drummers beating out festive tunes.  The bright colors and abundant activity offer limitless opportunities to capture the feeling of summer in Japan.

The City Lights

Go for a stroll in the evening and try to capture the mood of the city through the neon signs that can be found along most major thoroughfares in larger cities.

Traditional & Modern Side by Side

A temple in the foreground with a modern apartment building in the background…or a modern skyscraper hovering alongside a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn).  Try to catch an image that juxtaposes the old and new in Japan.

Temples & Shrines

In the city or the country, the temples and shrines are beautiful unto themselves but try capturing the spirit with images of the ema (prayer boards), purity fountain, torii (gates), and the monks themselves.

The View From the Street

Bring a long lens as the Japanese are notoriously camera shy with strangers. Capture people going about their daily lives, or the scene from the streets and alleyways of a local neighborhood like Kagurazaka or Nippori or even Yakitori Alley.

Transportation

Take a walk with your camera through a busy station and try to capture the hectic pace or visit a smaller station and head to the end of the platform to capture the comings and goings of the trains themselves.  Or why not try to capture other means of transportation like these well used Japanese bikes?

Food

I’ve been known to hold up a dinner party by stopping to take a picture of the food before its touched – just choose you timing wisely on that one…

Gardens & Parks

Japanese Gardens and are usually designed with a path around a central pond and offer a different view from almost any point along the meandering path. Shoot the ponds, bridges, ishidoro (stone lanterns), traditional tea houses and the seasonal foliage and flowers. It’s a beautiful an relaxing way to while away and afternoon with your camera.

Know When to Put Your Camera Away

Make sure that you put your camera down and just take it all in once in a while. You don’t want to spend all you time trying to capture the perfect shot and not enjoy the experience – that would be a bigger shame than losing a shot!

If you are a budding photographer and your traveling companions are not try to find some time to explore by yourself.  There is so much to photograph that much can be overlooked when trying to meet the needs of those with different interests. Set aside some time to explore your hobby independently or set a meeting time with your companion so you are free to roam about without worrying about your companions.

Stop by and visit The View From Japan for some photographic inspiration and take some time to listen to me talk about this list with Joseph on the Japan Podshow this week.

Image Credit:  Personal Collection

Not wanting to go blind in my shooting eye, I decided to leave my big digital camera and 500mm lens at home. I’d use a tripod and my first digital camera (Panasonic DMC-FZ50) for a few good reasons. It’s already had close to 200,000 shots made and probably wasn’t designed for over half that activity. It also has an LCD screen that can be twisted in almost any direction you want and would keep me from looking directly at the sun. Finally, it’s a pretty light-weight gadget that I could throw in a holster and sling over my shoulder. That would keep both my hands free to do some rock-climbing.

Rock-Climbing! If I was gonna risk my eyes on the photo of the century, might as well risk life and limb, too!   So, I slung the camera holster and tripod over my shoulder about an hour before the big event and started climbing. There’s a trail going up the hill, but I knew I’d have to leave it and climb sharp coral rocks to get myself in the position I wanted. Peeking at the sun as many times as I could stand it, I kept climbing…

The sky was starting to darken, just as I knew I was at the exact spot I needed to be for my million dollar shot. The only problem was there wasn’t enough room for me and the tripod on the ledge. Something had to give up space. The tripod won’t stand on two legs, but I could stand on one!

So, as a precaution, I used the strap of my holster to tie myself to a tree. That way I could let one foot dangle off the cliff while I bent over to view the LCD screen and make exposure adjustments. Thirty-one shots later, knees, legs, elbows and hands scratched and bleeding, eyes feeling like I was tortured with high-beams, I was headed home feeling like I outdid Ansel Adams!

The shots didn’t turn out quite the way I had hoped but at least I can say I was there and have the photos that I risked my life over to prove it!

Where were you during the 21st century total eclipse of the sun? In an air-conditioned home watching it on TV? That’s what I plan on doing, next time around!

This is what the 2009 Eclipse looked like from Okinawa on July 22, 2009:

In Hugh’s own words:

Construction work in Japan should be seen as fun, it appears. As well as the uniformed guards with white gumboots, lanyards, and whistles, who stand in front of closed (and locked) gates to stop random passers-by from attempting to go through and throw themselves under a bulldozer, and the pink or purple clown trousers worn by many construction workers, there is an element of playfulness in many items of equipment. Cranes decorated as giraffes, and purple backhoes are among the offerings on many construction sites.

But these frogs brought me up short when I saw them near Shimbashi. I’ve never seen anything quite so wonderful in such an incongruous context for a long time. They were asking to be photographed, so I did so, and they all smiled nicely at me. Now you’d never dream of crossing that line, would you?

The View From Japan is a community photo blog where ten photographers from around Japan share their views with you.  From the traditional to the modern and from architecture to people and events, the photographers all make their home in Japan and offer a different perspective of life in Japan through their lenses.  Stop by and take in the view…