Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Sushi-dō -.- The Way of the Sushi

 

I enjoyed the above video immensely, but what many people think are leg-pulls, are in fact things I have seen many times in Japanese restaurants. The maa-maa-maa and otoh toh toh are spot on.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Tsukiji Fishmarket - part 1

A very popular tourist attraction in Tokyo is the Tsukiji fishmarket, just next to Ginza. Most of the fun for the photographer, IMO, are the small streets with the tiny shops and restaurants and the incredible traffic of the vehicles transporting fish. Best to round off a visit to the market with a sushi breakfast; as a rule of thumb, the best restaurants are recognized by the queue of people waiting outside. It'll be the best sushi you'll ever have. ^_^

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Monday, October 29, 2007

Japan asleep (part 4)

I wonder how many people have gone round more than once on the circular Yamenote-line while asleep when their station came up. ^_^;;

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Cables, cables everywhere

There are two challenges the travel photographer encounters everywhere when in Japan:

  1. The groups of people posing while making the "V" sign in front of anything that can vaguely be regarded as "interesting". ^_^;;
  2. The cables that are visible everywhere.

The first is just a matter of waiting and could make for an interesting photo in any case, but the second is a real pain if you want to capture a temple, shrine or landscape.

Akira Kurosawa once complained that it was getting difficult to shoot his samurai  movies because there were always pylons getting in the way. In his book "Lost Japan", Alex Kerr already complained about those eyesores, stating that "Huys ten Bosch" near Nagasaki was the nicest place in Japan as finally there weren't cables visible everywhere.
However, according to IEEE research, there are still four million pole transformers installed throughout Japan that contain traces of PCBs. That means that they are not only an eyesore, but also a public health-hazard if, for example due to an earthquake, the oil in the transformers catches fire.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Eyes Of An Island - Michael Hoppen Gallery

Yesterday we went to see the 'Eyes Of An Island - Japanese Photography 1945-2007' exhibition at the Michael Hoppen Gallery, London SW3 3TD. The photos of post-war Japan were extremely powerful but with works of people like Shomei Tomatsu, Daido Moriyama, Hiroshi Hamaya, Shigeichi Nagano, Hiromi Tsuchida, Eikoh Hosoe, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ryuji Miyamoto, Naoya Hatakeyama and Nobuyoshi Araki -amongst others, everything is worth a visit.

I was so impressed that we bought one of the limited edition 100 page hardback book accompanying the exhibition.

This London event was mentioned in Japanese newspapers as an important exhibition for Japan.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

JR Hida limited express at Gero-Onsen station

The Hida is a limited express between Nagoya and Toyama along the Takayama Line, and it runs via Gifu and Gero to Takayama in just over two hours. Once a day there is a service leaving from Osaka rather than Nagoya.

It is a popular service for foreign tourists because of famous Takayama, but also because it is a beautiful train ride through the mountains and along the Hidagawa river.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Friday, October 26, 2007

Autumn

How dark is a forest on a dreary day? Well, very dark if you're shooting this scene with ISO125 film. On my trip to Japan I used the following Ilford films: ISO 125 FP4 Plus, ISO 400 HP5 Plus and ISO 50 PAN F Plus. The HP5 was the easiest to use as it gave me a little more speed with my limited lens, but the results of the FP4 and PAN F are better, not unexpectedly.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Abadan Barber's

Another one of those photos that would be hard to pin-point on a map if you didn't know it was in Acton.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Nagaragawa Tetsudo-line

To go to Gujō-Hachiman we had to change trains in Minō-Ota station to get on the private Nagaragawa Tetsudō line. This is not covered by the JR Rail Pass but Gujō-Hachiman and the train-ride itself is definitely worth a visit.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

New Forest -.- Autumn colours (3)

The nice thing with the New Forest is that it is so open and filled with broad-leaved trees.  

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Monday, October 22, 2007

New Forest -.- Autumn colours (2)

How an idea fails to deliver. Looking back at this photo I realized that there were many more ways to make this a better composition...

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Sunday, October 21, 2007

New Forest -.- Autumn colours (1)

This weekend, for our anniversary we had booked a night at the Woodlands Lodge Hotel which I would recommend to everybody who is looking for a quiet place and a nice starting point for walks in the New Forest. Dinner was surprisingly good.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Hikari-shinkansen pulling into Tokyo station

The JR Rail Pass is an excellent deal for people traveling around in Japan; the popular trip Tokyo - Kyoto - Tokyo is more expensive than an one-week JR pass. Besides, you can also get comfortably around in Tokyo by JR without using the expensive Metro.

One nitpick is that the JR Rail Pass is not valid on Nozomi shinkansen, the fastest trains between Tokyo and Osaka. This was fine until a couple of years ago when the second fastest connection, the Hikari shinkansen, were plentiful and the Nozomi much more expensive.  Now that the  circumstances have changed and the number of Hikari has been reduced and the Nozomi are plentiful and about the same price as the Hikari, maybe it is time that JR looks into this JR Rail Pass restriction again.

It is of course hardly a problem for the people traveling exactly between Tokyo and Nagoya, Kyoto or Osaka who can decide themselves what time they show up at the station, but it starts to get a bit of a problem when coming from the countryside by train and have to wait for more than an hour to be able to get on your connection.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Friday, October 19, 2007

Kamikochi - Taishoike again

Row boats in the mud after typhoon #9 passed.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Kenji Miyazawa's grave -.- Hanamaki, Iwate.

What do the Gauche the Cellist anime by Isao Takahata of Ghibli fame and the Night on the Galactic Railroad anime have in common? Why, both are based on short stories by Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933),  the most famous son of the town of Hanamaki in the Iwate province in Japan who have erected a nice museum in his honour.

My parents-in-law live in Hanamaki and I have visited the museum, of course, which I would recommend to anybody visiting the north of Japan, especially since it seems to be the only place left where you can watch the The Restaurant of Many Orders anime. :-) However, recently I discovered that the haka (grave)  of Kenji Miyazawa is only a stone throw away from my parents-in-law's house.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Tokusawa Lodge -.- Kamikochi

In Kamikochi the hotels are usually expensive and the cheapest places to stay, except for the campsites, are the lodges. We stayed at Tokusawa Lodge, at Tokusawa on the other end of the Kamikochi valley a two hour walk from Kappabashi. It was like an European chalet on the outside and the rustic inside immediately warmed up to me. The room was like any ryokan and dinner and breakfast were simple but plentiful. Electricity was only available between 16:00 and 21:00 but everybody was so tired that nobody really minded.

To reserve you'll have to contact the Tourist office in Matsumoto, see their webpage.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Japan @ work (part 3)

Movers at work in Tokyo.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Monday, October 15, 2007

Japan asleep (part 3)

The well known napping salariman in public transport, trying to get some shut-eye before getting into the office and staying late because his supervisor has not left yet and leaving before your supervisor is a bad career move.  :-)

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Tsukiji fish market -.- Ice factory

Now that I think about it, I knew it had to be there, I only didn't know what to look for until I stumbled upon it. With so much fresh fish handled every day, all packed in ice, there had to be an ice factory on the grounds of the Tsukiji fish marked in Tokyo.

The procedure is as follows: a basket descends from the window on the top right-side of the photo and the ice is paid for. A couple of seconds later the ice pours out of the tube into the receptable; a carriage in this case.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Japan @ work (part 2)

People on the way to work.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Friday, October 12, 2007

Tokyo Midtown, Roppongi

View from above of the coffee shop in the Tokyo Midtown building in Roppongi, Tokyo. In the same building is the Fuji-film company located and they have opened a free, permanent exhibition area in the building which is certainly worth visiting. The photo needs cropping on the left, though.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Japan @ work (part 1)

However, Tokyo is an extremely busy city and construction work is underway everywhere. In the hot, late summer of Tokyo, people are protecting themselves against the sun.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Japan asleep (part 2)

Very sexy Japanese girl asleep in the subway

Secretly I think a lot of people in Japan pretend to be asleep in public transport because they would otherwise feel obliged to give their seat to the elderly and infirm, but asleep they are save from these obligations of course. The girl in this photo seemed genuinely asleep, however, judging by the fact she kept lolling her head in the way a rag doll does.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Japan asleep (part 1)

No matter where you go in Japan, you always find people asleep; and I don't mean the many homeless people.
A sceptic will insist that Japanese people are lazy when so many are asleep all the time, the truth is that these people have had little time to sleep because they feel obliged to stay long hours at the office and have usually long commutes because house prices around Tokyo are extremely high. In this thread I'll post some of the candids I took in the park, department stores and trains and subways.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Monday, October 08, 2007

Gujo-Hachiman painting class

We arrived early in Gujo-Hachiman and I was nursing a head-ache so I sat down in a quiet alley for a while away from the cars. By chance the alley was filled with people having entered an aquarelle class  painting the scenic alley. We chatted a bit with the person in the photo and asked him to pose with his painting.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Kenroku-en, 兼六園 (part 2)

Kotoji-tōrō, a stone lantern with two legs, said to resemble the bridge on a koto. This lantern is emblematic of Kenroku-en and Kanazawa.

It was my second visit to Kanazawa and Kenroku-en in about 10 years and the experience this year was just as nice as then. The garden is still magical; I would very strongly recommend visiting the garden.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Maid cafe -.- Akiba

Cosplay restaurants and most notable the Maid Café's started in Akihabara (Akiba as it is known recently) around 2000. Girls dressed up as French maids go around Akiba to promote the restaurant. These particular girls where more than happy to pose for my photo.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Taishōike in Kamikōchi -.- part 5

This is the third choice for the Kamikochi competition (click here and here for my previous choices). Another photo of Taishoike in the fog.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Friday, October 05, 2007

Gazing unflinchingly at things for a long time (2)

These candid shots catch a lot of information about people in trains in Japan: People texting on their mobiles, others asleep and some reading manga.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Shibuya, the famous pedestrian crossing (2)

Walking back from the bar, the normally busy crossing close to Shibuya station was almost deserted.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Shibuya, the famous pedestrian crossing (1)

The people filming Lost in Translation went up to the Starbucks on the corner to film this crossing as so many people associate the crowds and the surrounding building and blaring video screens with Tokyo.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Japan in Black&White, slideshow



Japan in Black&White

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Taishoike in Kamikochi -.- part 4

Taishoike in the fog in Kamikochi

This is the second photo I plan to enter in the Photo Walking photo competition that is held yearly by Kamikochi. I will take the leaves on the top right out as I feel that they are disturbing the balance of the photo. Click here to see my first choice.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Gazing unflinchingly at things for a long time (1)

In his book Subway Love, Nobuyoshi Araki gives his understanding of the essence of documentary as: "To gaze unflinchingly at a thing for a long time."

Inspired by this book by Araki-sensei, I really enjoyed taking documentary photos of people in the trains and subways and I think the results are really rewarding. I will be posting more of these this month.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3

Monday, October 01, 2007

Toden Arakawa line

The last streetcar in Tokyo runs between the terminals at Minowabashi Station and Waseda Station: the Toden Arakawa line. The streetlevel, leisurely trip brings you through neighbourhoods of Tokyo, rarely visited by tourists and is therefore really worth a visit.

I really like this picture; the way the security mirror reflecting the image of the girl was just something that lined up perfectly.

Camera: Pentax MZ-3, lens: Sigma 28-300mm - 1:3.5-6.3