2015 Fall Photography Tour of Japan | Kanazawa and Kenrokuen

Jan 22 | Evan | No Comments |

The 2015 Fall Photography Tour of Japan started off with a short stay in Tokyo and then on to include Kanazawa, Okayama, Miyajima, Kyoto and then returning to Tokyo. The first evening started off with a rainy day in Tokyo and by the time we reached the city from the airport, it was dinner time. So on a rainy Tokyo evening, we head out to meet a group of Japanese friends for a welcome dinner at an izakaya (think Japanese tapas bar). After breakfast the next morning we headed north west along the new Japan Rail Hokuriku Shinkansen which extended all the way to Kanazawa in the Spring of 2015. This makes reaching Kanazawa much easier and quicker from Tokyo than in the past! So what’s to see in Kanazawa? Too much for our 3 days we would spend in the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture, but the most famous attraction is Kenrokuen, Japan’s most famous garden.

Our timing for the leaves was good as we could see some trees in the peak and others in the midst of changing, offering a variety of greens, yellows, oranges and reds, very nice! The weather could have been a little better though as we had fairly dreary days. Though with my recent luck with the weather, not having rain, or a typhoon, was certainly a plus! Back to Kanazawa and Kenrokuen though! It’s a beautifully landscaped garden that is big enough that you could spend all day walking around and finding interesting things to make photos of. The stone lantern in the first two photos is Kenrokuen’s iconic view and what you will see if you google Kenrokuen, but plenty of other great photography spots to be found!

There is small entrance fee to access the garden, but what’s great for photographers is that early in the morning, before sunrise you can enter for free until the normal access hours. The fact that Kenrokuen opens before sunrise is wonderful as that happening for gardens is very rare in Japan. These next few photos were taken early in the morning during the blue hour.

As you could guess, along with the benefit of having great light in the early morning, as Kenrokuen is the most famous garden in Japan, going early means you beat the mass crowds of tourists to come later in the day. Besides the iconic lantern in the first few images, Kenrokuen is famous for how they protect their trees from the heavy snow Kanazawa gets during the Winter called yukitsuri. During our time there, most of the ropes were setup already but we did get to see one being setup by a team in the garden. You can see the ropes in a cone shape on some of the trees below and then at the bottom some night time photos as during the fall leaves season, Kenrokuen lights up some of the trees.

The next three works of art were created by and courtesy of Charles Bowers, check out his site for more fantastic art from his international travels and information about upcoming shows!

The 2015 Fall Photography Tour of Japan included Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawago, Okayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Kyoto! Interesting in joining your own escorted tour of Japan with Japan Photo Guide? Contact us to get the planning of your trip to Japan started or join one of the group tours of Japan!

Engetsu Islet in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture

Aug 08 | Evan | No Comments |

This summer in Japan I had planned to spend a week exploring Wakayama Prefecture. Wakayama Prefecture, Southeast of Kyoto and Osaka, is most famous for Koyasan and The Kumano Kodo, but this trip I wanted to explore the beautiful coastline in the Kii Peninsula. As it turned out, a typhoon also wanted to visit Wakayama Prefecture at the exact same time, so my trip got cut from 7 days to 4 days! In any case, I still managed to see much of what I wanted, though most places weren’t at the time of day I would have liked to be there for. One place I could photograph as planned was Engetsu Islet in Shirahama. I ended up coming to Engetsu Islet for 2 sunsets and 1 sunrise, partly because I just liked the location but also because there are lot’s of points around the coast to photograph Engetsu Islet from.

Imagine the coastline in the shape of a “U” but on the right side, instead of a straight line, it’s an “S” and most of the U merged with and S coastline I walked trying to find location I liked to photograph from. This was also the first time I had attempted to use graduated neutral density filters and also a 10 stop ND filter (which is what makes the water look so creamy in some of these photos). I really enjoyed exploring the area and had fun learning about the new filters, though I still have a ways to go with them I suppose! Here is a comparison of with and without the 10 stop ND filter:

The last morning I was in Shirahama, I even got to see a rainbow along with Engetsu Islet which was kind of nice if not a little cliche of a photo though…

Next up on the trip would be Nachi Taisha of the Kumano Kodo!

2015 Rice Terrace Tour of Japan | Kujukushima from Ishidake Observatory

Jun 17 | Evan | No Comments |

The last sunset of the 2015 Tanada Tour of Japan was spent at Ishidake Observatory to see views of the islands of Kujukushima. It’s a popular spot for sunsets and also a spot that was used for the opening scene of the film, “The Last Samurai.” The observatory does get crowded with photographers and the space isn’t huge, so if you plan on going here, best to get there early.

We arrived at at Ishidake Observatory about 2 hours before sunset and there were already some photographers there waiting. There was still space for our group touring Japan to take photos, but for some photographers that came too late had to squeeze or find another place that wasn’t ideal.

I love the way the water looks after the boats pass through…

And finally a few panoramic photos of Kujukushima taken with my iPhone…

For the 2015 Rice Terrace Photo Tour of Japan, we also visited Doya Tanada, Hamanoura Tanada, Warabino Tanada and Mikaeri Falls, Nijinomatsubara, Jufukuji and Yumiharidake Observatory for Kujukushima. Interested in joining a future Tanada Tour of Japan? Contact me today to start your experience for Japan! Overall, this group tour of Japan focusing on the rice terraces of Kyushu was a success and besides making some great photos in Japan, we had a great time and ate (too much) delicious sushi and more! Next up is the 2015 Fall Tour of Japan!

2015 Rice Terrace Tour of Japan | Kujukushima from Yumiharidake Observatory

Jun 16 | Evan | No Comments |

Our escorted tour of Japan continued from Karatsu in Saga Prefecture to Sasebo of Nagasaki Prefecture. The hotel our group stayed at was next to a nice observatory with great views of Kujukushima. Having such a nice place within a 5 minute walk from the hotel was very convenient for taking photos not only of the islands of Kujukushima but also the observatory offered nice views of Sasebo. The views of Sasebo and the port were more interesting to me here, so that’s why you don’t see any views of Kujukushima in this post. Don’t worry though, in my next post of Ishidate Observatory there will be more photos of Kujukushima than you probably want to see!

This view is also very nice in the evening with the lights of the city, but the evening we were here, it was too cloudy to see all of the mountains in the background.