2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan | Tokyo

Apr 30 | Evan | No Comments |

Either as a photographer to take photos or just view the cherry blossoms, Japanese and tourists are always excited for cherry blossom season.  The 2018 the cherry blossoms couldn’t wait either.  Compared to an average year, the cherry blossoms in Japan bloomed earlier than normal and in some places in Japan even 10 -14 days earlier than normal!  Luckily, for just about all of our locations for the 2018 cherry blossom photography tour, we still could see the tail end of the cherry blossoms.

Our first destination on the 2018 cherry blossom photography tour of Japan was Tokyo.  This year’s group of 6 including me, all arrived earlier than the official start date of the photo tour to settle in and experience more of Japan’s largest city.  Our first day of the tour was probably the last full bloom day in Tokyo as the cherry blossoms were starting to fall to the ground.  Photographing the cherry blossoms falling can also be beautiful, so if I have a preference, I’d prefer to be slightly late than early to photograph the cherry blossoms in Japan!

Our photography tour stayed in Tokyo for 2 nights and by the morning of our departure to Hiroshima, there was a lot more green in the cherry blossoms than I would have liked to photograph but still beautiful spots to be found!

 

The 2018 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour took a small group of photographers to Japan.  We started in Tokyo and continued to Hiroshima, Miyajima, HImeji Castle, Kyoto and Mt. Fuji.  Here is the trip report from the 2018 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan. The 2019 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan is already planned and live!  Limited spots are available for the 2019 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan, with first booking already reserved!  Below is a gallery of cherry blossom photos from our days in Tokyo.

2017 Private Summer Tour of Japan | Tokyo

Aug 10 | Evan | No Comments |

The first full day of my private tour of Japan was spent as a day trip in Nikko, visiting a master Japanese sword smith and some of the sights that make Nikko magnificent. After our time in Tochigi Prefecture, we had a few days to explore, photograph, experience and eat our way through Tokyo.  Though even if we had many days, there is never enough time to see, and especially eat and photograph everything in Tokyo!

Also, back to when I mentioned I love creating private tours of Japan for the amount of personalization I can put into it, for this tour it meant including some stops for anime and Studio Ghibli which happens on the majority of my trips to Japan, but also introduced me to another side of Japan that I knew of but didn’t really know much about, brand name fashion in Japan like BAPE and Supreme, not based in Japan but has more stores in Japan than the rest of the world combined.  This along with how Japanese owners are famous for keeping items in good condition, mean that Japan and Tokyo is a mecca for pristine second hand goods like Supreme.  So along with photography and eating, there was a lot of shopping while traveling around Japan.
 
We also made time for a cooking lesson with a Japanese chef in her home in Tokyo, which is always one of most popular experiences with my visitors to Japan.  Besides the experience and connecting with a local family, the food is always amazing.

 
Between shopping and eating, we of course managed to do some sightseeing, photography and exploring.  Including one night after dinner we went to Hie Shrine where there was a nice little Summer Festival going on with taiko drums and dancing.  Another perfect opportunity to play with the stabilization for Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. The three photos below are all hand held with shutter speeds of 1/10, 0.4 and 0.8.

See more photos below or the full report to see more posts from the custom and private photography tour of Japan.

2017 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Tokyo

May 17 | Evan | No Comments |

The 2017 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan was shaping up to be quite a large group of photographers visiting Japan but suddenly some members had to drop out for personal reasons. In January I had pretty much accepted that the 2017 Cherry Blossom Tour was not going to happen when just as suddenly as the original group fell apart, 4 new members inquired about joining me on an escorted tour of Japan during cherry blossom season. Leading a smaller group of photographers through Japan certainly has it’s benefits and allowed us to do a couple of things that aren’t possible, or much more difficult, with a larger group. One of which was a fantastic home stay in the tea plantations in the outskirts of Kyoto, Japan (more on that to come).

As you can see by the photo of Chidorigafuchi above, even though the dates of this tour of Japan during cherry blossom season were almost identical to the 2016 cherry blossom tour of Japan, we were slightly early for full bloom of the cherry blossoms when the trip started in Tokyo.  Not an issue though as it was easy to isolate some cherry blossoms in bloom or ignore the blossoms completely with many of the interesting subjects Tokyo has to offer for photographers, for example the “Shibuya Scramble” in Shibuya.

Of course street photography is as easy as it comes in Tokyo with opportunity after opportunity if you are patient and look for it.  After meeting one couple at the airport in Tokyo, on the transfer into the Tokyo, I was asked to dial up a wedding to take photos of in Tokyo and wouldn’t you know it, the next day walking around during their free time, they found the wedding shoot I “arranged” like last summer in Himeji!

Created by and courtesy of Tim Durham

While we were slightly too early for the first few days in Tokyo for cherry blossoms, by the time we made our way back, the cherry blossoms were still holding on a bit, just starting to fall off the trees but still quite beautiful. See the gallery at the end of this post for more photos from Tokyo during cherry blossom season and some night time shooting of Shibuya Scramble. 

The 2017 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan took our small group of photographers to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto, Wazuka and Fuji Five Lakes.  Take a look at the 2017 Cherry Blossom Tour Trip report to see more from our tour of Japan during cherry blossom season. Want to visit Japan during cherry blossom season with Japan Photo Guide?  The 2018 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan for photographers has limited spaces available, book now!

Tour of Japan | Cary Academy Goes to Japan!

Aug 28 | Evan | No Comments |

Cary Academy is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year and as a proud alumnus from the early years, I couldn’t have been more excited to arrange and escort a group from one of my favorite places to another of my favorite places, Japan!  Besides family and friends, Cary Academy and Japan have influenced my life more than anything else and combining them was a lot of fun for me and a very special experience and tour of Japan to plan!

After the line below this paragraph, the rest of this report on our trip to Japan is written by Katie Taylor, a 6^th grade teacher at Cary Academy and Japan enthusiast.  I came to Katie with the idea of bringing a group to Japan late in 2015 and certainly could not have done the trip without her support, advice, preparedness, kindliness and patience.  Thank you very much Katie!

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I had the pleasure of first traveling to Japan in 2012, and I’ve wanted to return ever since! I enjoy sharing my love of Japanese culture and history with my students, and I was so glad to have four of them and two of their parents travel with Evan and me to Japan.

We began our trip with three nights in Tokyo, right across the street from the Tokyo Skytree. This is a much less busy area of Tokyo, which made it ideal as a home base for traveling with students. The famous part of the Skytree is of course the tower itself, but beneath it is a nice shopping area with lots of good restaurants. There’s a whole floor of Made in Japan souvenirs which are of high quality, which was a major bonus! The subway station underneath the Skytree made the rest of Tokyo easily accessible as well.

Cooking Lesson

On our first day in Toyko, we connected with a fantastic local chef, Kyoko, for a cooking lesson. We learned all about special ingredients used in Japanese cooking and little tricks for making difficult dishes “just right”. After cooking, we stuffed ourselves with all of the delicious food: gyoza, tempura, sea bass, gyunomiyaki (beef rolls with vegetables inside), fresh pickles, and delicious spices and sauces to go with each.

My favorite was the gyoza, which I’ve actually made twice since I’ve been back in the US following the recipe Kyoko gave us. I’m not exaggerating when I say these gyoza are the best I’ve tasted!

While the food was delicious and fun to make, the most interesting part of the visit was getting to spend time in Kyoko’s home. We were able to see how the Japanese make excellent use of small spaces, as well as several ways that Buddhism and Shinto are integrated into modern life. Kyoko and her husband were both so hospitable and helped make our first day truly memorable.

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Appropriate for kids and adults, the Edo-Tokyo Museum is an excellent way to learn about the history of Tokyo and how it developed from the village surrounding Tokugawa’s castle to the metropolis it is today. There are models of various sizes and interactive exhibits as well. You can actually sit inside a kago or test your strength carrying buckets as peasants would have 400 years ago. There’s a life size traditional house, Kabuki theater, and recreation of Nihonbashi. Our students loved seeing models of so many buildings that we’d talked about when studying Japan in History class.

Jump Theme Park: J-World Tokyo

J-World caters to fans of old school anime like Dragonball, new classics like Naruto, and the newest popular shows like Kuroko no Basket or Haikyu. There are sections dedicated to various shows with interactive games, videos, and a few rides. This is not a theme park like Six Flags, but more like a “themed” set of activities. Our favorite part was all the opportunities to take fun photos and pretend to actually be in the anime.

Checking Out a Few of Tokyo’s Many Wards

One of the joys of Tokyo is just walking around and looking at buildings, watching people, and finding neat little shops and cafes to enjoy. We spent some time doing this in Harajuku, stopping in a cute candy shop on “Cat Street” and checking out a retro café that is a favorite of our guide. We also shopped and people-watched in Akihibara, mostly in the enormous Yodabashi Camera store.

We did the tourist-required crossing at Shibuya station, but first we watched the crowds cross. A crosswalk seems like an odd tourist destination, but it actually gives an interesting insight into how Japan works. The crossing across from the station in Shibuya is one of the busiest and most congested intersections in the world, but it runs smoothly and politely day after day because of the Japanese focus on “gaman,” or patience.

The Skytree

Tokyo Skytree celebrates 5 years of operation this year, and it still looks brand new. The views are beautiful, the maps and guides are useful, and the staff are friendly and helpful. We all enjoyed looking at the map and finding various famous places in the views around us. It reminds me of the Space Needle in Seattle, but much bigger! The owners and designers have put a lot of effort into connecting the Skytree to Japanese culture. The color, height, location, and even elevator themes all have connections to Japanese culture and history.

Next stop, Miyajima and Hiroshima and then finally Kyoto!

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