2015 Rice Terrace Tour of Japan | Doya Tanada

Back in 2013 I escorted a large group of photographers around Hokkaido, Tokyo and Kyoto.  It was a great trip as we explored and photographed Japan for just about 2 weeks.  I was delighted when Dmitry from Photosafari contacted me again about creating a short extension trip for him and other photographers after they spent some time in New Zealand.  Due to the timing of their trip, we decided to focus on Rice Terraces (Tanada in Japanese) of Kyushu as the timing would be close to when the rice terraces are filled with water making for some beautiful landscape photographs.  We would have liked to arrive a little bit earlier, but due to the group’s other commitments we arrived just after peak season for taking photos of some of the rice terraces in Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture.

After flying into Tokyo, we had a short break before flying to Fukuoka and then we chartered a bus to take us to our hotel in Karatsu.  Karatsu is in Saga Prefecture and a great base for exploring rice terraces in the area.  After Kamikochi and Kyoto, Saga Prefecture, especially Karatsu is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Japan.  Our first rice terrace would be Doya Tanada, which is actually in neighboring Nagasaki Prefecture.  Photos of Doya were the original inspiration for creating the rice terrace tour of Japan as I’m sure you can see why!

For the 2015 Rice Terrace Photo Tour of Japan, we also visited Oura Tanada, Hamanoura Tanada, Warabino Tanada, Nijinomatsubara, Jufukuji, Ishidake Observatory for Kujukushima and Yumiharidake Observatory for Kujukushima.  Interested in joining a future Tanada Tour of Japan?  Contact me today to start your experience for Japan!

Traveling around Kyushu | Tanada Rice Terraces

Tanada, or in English, rice terraces, are rice fields built into hillsides and mountains.  With the right timing and weather, they can provide excellent backgrounds for landscapes in Japan or other countries that have time.  Accessing the best rice terraces isn’t always easy and finding information in English is rare, so I’ve become really interested in creating a tour to focus on some beautiful rice terraces in Kyushu.  I haven’t worked out all the details yet, but this summer I visited a couple areas of Kyushu including Nagasaki, Sasebo and Karatsu, to scout out the area.  I knew my timing wouldn’t be good for photos as I went during the rainy season for Kyushu and also the rice had already started to grow tall in most parts of the rice terraces.  Most of my favorite photos of rice terraces are when the season first starts and you can only see water in the rice fields.  This makes for some magnificent imagery, especially when you get a great sunset.

Even though this trip to Kyushu was mainly to scout the area and during the rainy season, I decided to practice some HDR (high dynamic range) photography.  The first time I really tried this was when I was in Japan during cherry blossom season on another tour of Japan.  You haven’t seen any of those photos because they didn’t come out very well!   This time, while I’m not thrilled with the results, they are at least good enough to share, considering it’s only my second attempt!  Most of these are HDR but there are a few iPhone panoramic photos mixed in as well as a few HDR of other random places I found along the way in Kyushu.

Interested in coming along or in more information about the Japan Photo Tanada Tour?  Contact me and I can fill you in!

Traveling around Kyushu | Karatsu

It’s no secret that I love Kamikochi and Kyoto, but Karatsu certainly deserves to be on my short list of favorite areas in Japan.  Located in Saga Prefecture in Kyushu, about an hour or so away from Hakata in Fukuoka, lies the peaceful and beautiful ocean side city of Karatsu.  There isn’t much going on in terms of nightlife here, but lot’s and lot’s of beautiful scenery for great opportunities to take photos of Japan.  Compared to my days in Nagasaki and Sasebo, the weather was finally a little nicer and actually saw the sun… I wasn’t sure it actually was available in Kyushu!

Like Nagasaki, Karatsu has both the ocean and mountains, which who doesn’t love having both?  Also, it’s a good base for visiting rice terraces, waterfalls (Mikaeri and Kannon Falls) and some nice beaches that if you didn’t know any better, looks like you are in the tropics.  Niji no Matsubara is the most famous beach in the area, but along the coast, there are a few other smaller ones that look like something out of a movie.  Besides that, we went up to Nanatsugama Caves which was pleasant as well.  I didn’t take any photos of it due to other places I wanted to visit, but Karatsu Castle is up on a hill and could certainly make for some interesting photos as well.  All in all, I’m a fan of Karatsu and certainly hope to go back for the upcoming rice terrace photography tour of Japan I’m planning.

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