2015 Cherry Blossom Group Tour of Japan | Tokyo

Apr 25 | Evan | No Comments |

Before evening returning from the the 2015 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan, I received a few inquiries about the 2016 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan! If you are looking for that information, the details of the 2016 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan can be found here.

Like every trip to Japan, the 2015 Cherry Blossom Tour went by too fast! Even though the weather was not great for traveling around Japan (I think in 2 weeks I saw the sun on 3 days at best and somebody forgot to tell Japan that it was Spring and not still Winter)…. and in some cities the cherry blossoms bloomed too early for us to catch the peak bloom of the sakura, we had a great time, made new friends, ate delicious (and too much) Japanese food, experienced the culture and we were able to make some nice photos!

This guided tour of Japan started out in Tokyo, with the tour participants flying into Japan from 4 different countries on 3 different days. Tokyo was the perfect place to meet and wait while the entire group was getting settled in Japan. I arrived in Tokyo first, just as the cherry blossoms had hit their peak, only to see the next two days bring rain and extreme winds which are both devastating to the fragile cherry blossoms…sigh… But that didn’t stop us having a portrait session in Shinjuku Gyoen with Manami in her kimono! It was a great portrait session in Tokyo, but she was too popular with everyone else in the park as well! She was great about it and so kind to let every take her photo!

Due to cherry blossoms blooming a few days earlier than the average and the weather not cooperating, we didn’t get too many cherry blossom photos in Tokyo, but still managed to get some photos close to peak around Tokyo! Also, as the sakura petals are falling off, the cherry blossom petals can make for some quite beautiful photos as well!

The first night we were all together, I had arranged with a friend of mine in Tokyo to introduce some Japanese families to our group! We had dinner together in a (really dark-sorry photo is so as well) restaurant in Shibuya and it was a great cultural exchange for our group visiting Japan and for the Japanese friends to meet travelers. If you are visiting Tokyo and want to make some Japanese friends over a meal, here is the facebook page my friend started for cultural exchange in Tokyo.

Other highlights of our days in Tokyo were a cooking lesson in a Japanese home and visiting an early morning sumo practice! All really great experiences in Tokyo for some nice memories!

Photo by Gavin Everson

Want to see more photos from the 2015 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan? The group tour also went to Miyajima, Hiroshima, Himeji, Kyoto and some of us to The Fuji Five Lakes close to Mt. Fuji. Stay tuned for more photos from the escorted tour of Japan!

First 2015 Cherry Blossom Forecast for Japan Released

Jan 24 | Evan | No Comments |

iStock_000032609814_Small Cherry blossom season is probably my favorite time of year to experience Japan but it’s not always exactly the dates for year to year. The first cherry blossom forecast for 2015 of Japan’s cherry blossom season has been released by weathermap.jp! As with all forecasts, they are best guesses and will certainly be updated from now until the start of the 2015 cherry blossom season. Cherry blossoms, or sakura in Japanese, are particular fragile and even if the opening date is correct, weather, hard rain or strong winds can reduce the peak period or full bloom time that is best to view the cherry blossoms.

It is still early, but right now, the general forecast is slightly ahead of the average first bloom and full bloom dates for the 2015 cherry blossom season. For more information on the average blooming dates of cherry blossom trees in Japan and best places to view cherry blossoms, take a look at japan-guide.com or JNTO.

Here are the current estimates for the opening blooms of cherry blossom trees in Japan for 2015, with full bloom expected to be around a week or so after:

Updated February 4th, 2015 as the Japan Weather Association has released their first cherry blossom forecast for 2015 Spring season.

Updated February 19th, 2015 as Sakura Map has updated their cherry blossom forecast for 2015 sakura season. Just a reminder that these dates are the estimated opening date for cherry blossoms and full bloom should be around a week or so after.

Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Maiko Portrait Session

Apr 20 | Evan | No Comments |

Maiko Portrait Session-13-japanphotoguide

The 2014 cherry blossom tour of Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan had been going great and filled with special experiences so far. When planning this trip to Japan, one of the experiences I was most excited about was this portrait session with a real maiko! A maiko is an apprentice geisha or geiko as they are referred to in Kyoto. Many westerners think that these women are prostitutes, but this is not the case (and has not been for quite some time). Maiko, geisha or geiko are really entertainers that not only must know how to perform songs and dance, but also how to social interact and talk with high ranking politicians and members of elite society. For more information about maiko, geisha, geiko and their history, the wikipedia page is a good place to start.

Maiko Portrait Session-20-japanphotoguide

To schedule time with a maiko is not so easy. First, you have to know somebody with a connection. I had a few interactions with maiko and geiko, and because of my experience with some geisha houses and my Japanese, I could have scheduled something by myself, but like many things in Japanese culture, the most direct way is not always the best. So even for me, the best way for me to arrange time with one is to go through one of my connections in Kyoto. Even if you have a connection or two like myself, availability can be a problem as there are not so many maiko around! Thanks to my connections, we were able to arrange 2 different portrait sessions with 2 different maiko. Now that we had the time scheduled, the difficult part was finding a beautiful place, where we wouldn’t be overrun by tourist rushing to take photos! So all the popular places were out of the questions, but we were able to find some more isolated areas that allowed us to make beautiful portraits in Kyoto. Here are just a few of my favorite portraits of the two maiko in Kyoto during cherry blossom season:

2014 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Tokyo and Kyoto

Apr 16 | Evan | No Comments |

I love visiting and sharing Japan during anytime of the year, but there is nothing like Japan during cherry blossom season! What started out as me helping the family plan by consulting on their trip, turned into a 8 day tour with them in Tokyo and Kyoto during cherry blossom season. We were perhaps a few days early for the sakura to be in full bloom, but towards the middle and end of the trip, we got to see some beautiful cherry blossom trees. Besides the cherry blossoms, we had plenty to do!

Tokyo and Kyoto-15-japanphotoguide

This tour of Japan was one of my hybrid general + photo tours where the father had a strong passion for photography and while the rest of the family enjoys taking photos, the tour couldn’t be just a photography tour. There were still some early morning photography sessions just the rest of the family was sleeping in and eating breakfast while we were out taking photos. The father’s main focus is actually wildlife photography but aside from crows in Tokyo, there really aren’t any wildlife photography opportunities in Tokyo! Instead, we were mainly focusing on cityscape and HDR images in Tokyo. I also arranged a portrait session in Tokyo. In Kyoto, I arranged two portrait sessions with a real maiko (Geiko in training, Geiko is what Geisha are called in Kyoto) and of course some of the amazing temples and shrines were our focus, along with the ever popular bamboo groves in Arashiyama.

Ninja Experience-10-japanphotoguide

Like I said though, this wasn’t just a photography tour of Japan! There was lot’s of sightseeing and experiences for the rest of the family as well! Of course we went to the usual suspects in Tokyo and Kyoto, like in Tokyo, Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara and in Kyoto, Golden Pavilion, Ryoanji, Path of Philosophy, Kiyomizudera and so on… but also, were able to arrange some very special experiences as well. Some of those experiences were a private demonstration with a Japanese sword smith, tea ceremony, already mentioned the maiko portrait session, private meeting with a monk for learning about Buddhism and to take some photos, a ninja experience and more! Check out a few of my favorite photos of the family and cherry blossoms from the trip. More photos from our tour of Japan coming soon!