Many photographers head to Japan for the amazing scenery but before I get stuck into possible locations you so need to be aware of things before you even think about planning a trip.
First off is scenery and locations in Japan can be tricky, you are bound by stuff like seasons and weather. As I mentioned in the previous article weather in Japan is very changeable even in the middle of a season. People think in terms of cherry blossom (Sakura Season) but you need to be aware the season is over very quickly, its variable depending where you are as the blossom comes out at different times depending on how far North or South you are and prices skyrocket. Hotels get expensive and are often booked out months in advance for the blossoms. Another headache with Sakura season is everywhere with good blossoms will be packed by locals and tourists potentially spoiling those classic shots you may have in mind.
The same applies to Autumn colours, the spectacular autumn colours are subject to the same issues as Sakura season and the colours may be even more fleeting too. In Koya-san the colours can be here and gone inside of a week and that week may be highly variable. Last year the colours came early as many a disappointed Japanese visitor sorrowfully told me.
Although I was on time for the Autumn colours it was very hard to find locations where the colours were out AND there was something worth photographing as the subject. The colours can be VERY variable. For instance in Kyoto few colours were out except at Sanzen-in Temple which is on one of the nearby mountains. In Koya-san I would be very unlucky and miss the colours by a mere 3 days. The colours were already fading as the leaves came off the trees and in some shots a mere 2 two days shows a marked difference in the volume and colour. Locals have a better chance as they are on location the whole time. For me with a schedule to stick to it was sometimes frustrating.
An additional headache for some locations is Japanese public holidays. I spent two days at Nara which was the date of a Japanese public holiday. The whole place was absolutely rammed with people. On the upside we got to see a traditional event, the Heijokyo Tenpyo Procession featuring a beautiful procession to Todai-ji Temple. On the downside any shots of temples were pointless so I focused on street work. Similarly at Nagasaki our schedule took us away from Nagasaki just two days before the annual lantern festival which we had known nothing about until we got there. The shot below was caught as I wandered about one night and found part of the display lit up while they tested the electrics. It was a glimpse of how spectacular it would have been. Not a thing on any of the tourist advertising sites!
So when you’re planning you have to bear all of this in mind as to when you go and what will be available.
Be especially wary of websites showing amazing shots of some locations. These are often heavily done with AI. The main Shrine at Ise for instance is ALWAYS super busy and those idyllic shots you may have seen were most probably done when the location was closed to visitors. More than a few locations will be this way especially the big attractions. Bear all of this in mind when you plan!
Along with your cameras you will want to take a small laptop or Pad with you because at any given location there will be much to look at. If you have access to Google maps you will be able to scout out locations where there are fewer crowds. Much depends on your willingness to get shots. Mindful of the need to travel easily I packed very light. Two pairs of combat baggies, four T-Shorts, spare underwear and socks. It allowed me to travel easily by train, car, ferry or airplane.
Now it may well be you are on a package tour for a few weeks at most and will simply not be able to get to see some of the more isolated locations but if you are a free agent then the best solution is to hire a car, it will give you a lot more freedom to get to some of the more isolated locations and packing light will pay dividends. Having access to a hire car allowed a shot of Fuji, notoriously cloud covered and also some shots of sites that are not on the classic tourist musts like the deserted mausoleum at Tokoji temple. The shot of Fuji is also an example of how changeable the weather is. Just a few days before this shot the landscape was covered in snow!
My best shots were done at locations with few tourists but that also meant driving and putting up with the odd disappointment. If photography is your bag, and your other half is obliging, the shots will come. I am adventurous by nature and don’t mind driving for hours to get somewhere on the off chance of a good shot and I was also privileged to be in the country for 6 months giving me a lot more latitude than most visitors will get.
Most visitors will be constrained by being deposited in Tokyo, Osaka or Kytoto. You need to be mindful of the vast size of these cities. Tokyo for instance, if it were placed on the UK would extend from the Southern edge of the M25 in the South to the Northern edge of Liverpool in the North. It’s massive. Kyoto and Osaka are almost joined to Tokyo and are similarly very large. Even ‘small’ towns like Gifu can be huge compared to UK cities and towns.
I spent the time moving between far destinations using Japans incredible Shinkansen (bullet trains) and then hiring a car locally to get to the outlying areas. Over 6 months I stayed at 37 different locations in Western Japan. Obviously most people will have a lot less latitude on a two or three week tour.
Depending on your holiday some of these may or may not be available to you but as I said in the first part of the article you need to do research both before you go and once you are there so its well worth having a small laptop with you. Guidebooks are often out of date or misleading at best.
I’m going to conclude part 2 of this journey with a question.
How much effort do you want to make to get photographs?
At Asago there is the opportunity of a shot known as ‘The Castle in the Clouds’.
Outside the town is the ruins of the Takeda Clan fortress. It was built on top of a mountain and, at certain times of year, if the weather is right, the castle can be seen surrounded by clouds and other mountains.
A little digression here – the Takeda Clan castle was considered impossible to attack in its day, sitting on a mountain top, only a single access track along a winding path. In the event the Takeda were defeated at the battle of Nagashino where they were massacred by musket fire after a foolhardy charge at a stockade. The events leading up to this is the stuff of the film ‘Shadow Warrior’.
So I wanted a chance at a shot of this. Now Asago is a very small town with not much in it. In order to get the shot you need to be on top of the mountain opposite the castle before sunrise. So that meant staying in Asago the night before in a hotel that resembled the ‘Overlook Hotel’ from ‘The Shining’ and getting by on pot noodles as there are few restaurants around and I got there late.
So I get up at 3am, it’s cold, wet and misty so possibly the perfect weather for this once in a lifetime shot and I drive for the car park at the base of the mountain opposite Takeda Castle. The weather is foul, navigation is dicey and there’s no street lighting as this is in the boonies. Finally I get to the car park and it’s now over an hours walk up a steep, wet and slippy path to a viewing spot. This leads me onto the topic of gear. I knew this was going to be a hike so I had to opt for minimum kit. With no idea what the light or distance to the target would be I had to guess which of the two cameras and the mix of lenses would be best. The promotional blurb for this location is highly misleading by the way giving an impression you are closer. Many of the promotional shots are in fact composite pictures.
So it’s a nice long walk up a steep path which was at time hazardous, in the dark and with wet and cold drizzly rain and mist. Lovely! Just what you dreamed of at 3am.
By the time I made the peak of the climb and the viewing spot it would be fair to say I was knackered. I am after all 70 years old. To be fair Japanese even older than me were going past me like mountain goats. By the time I crested the top I swear I would have traded the camera gear for a cup of hot coffee and a doughnut.
There are a few Japanese on the viewing spot and a single westerner holding on to her iPhone and looking like she might burst into tears. The entertainment while we wait consists of watching the occasional person skidding on the wet surface and having an internal bet as to whether they will do themselves a serious injury on the rocks and tree stumps.
So I sit around and wait for sun-up to start and at first it looks like my luck is in. The clouds are swirling around in the valleys and as the sun starts to rise. It’s all looking good on the clouds front. Unfortunately the clouds are swirling in front of the castle ruins masking it from view! Will this work out? It’s time to be patient and watch. If the clouds don’t shift and the sun gets fully up the chance of the shot is gone.
Finally the clouds part a little and I get the castle ruins in view but they are quite some way away. Headache here is if I shoot wide the castle will be so tiny as to not be visible, shoot with a 100mm and it will be ok(ish) but a longer lens will capture the castle but miss the background setting. I didn’t have anything longer than 100mm with me so that was one less decision. An 80-200 zoom might have been a better choice if I had one with me but then I would probably be fighting slow aperture. Even at f3.5 it’s tight with Portra 400. Finally the clouds are right and I manage to get 4 shots off before the clouds obscure the castle again. Shortly afterwards the sun starts to burn the clouds away. I have been sat down on a wet log for over an hour waiting for this!
It’s time to walk back down that trail. Going down is even worse than the climb up. It’s slippy as snot underfoot and of course the cold and wet mist has not let up. At one point I take a skid off the trail and face plant myself into some large, wild and stinging plant. The swearing that resulted would have been a masterclass in invective for any English speaking people. The Japanese just politely smiled and looked sympathetic in the way you might extend sympathy to an idiot who put her finger in tank of piranhas.
At the top of the mountain I would have traded the camera for a cup of coffee – at the base I would have traded for some ointment to put on my battered, and now violently stinging, face and throbbing ankle.
With the shot, hopefully, in the bag it was time to drive back to the hotel. Have a hot shower and change into some clean and dry clothes ready to drive to the next location. Was it all worth it? I honestly don’t know. Here’s the best shot of the four taken you can be the judge.
In Part 3 of this series I will be starting a run down on the 37 locations I visited and giving out some short reviews which may aid you in your own planning and of course including some pictures from many of the locations . Very often the best stuff is found by chance.
In the meantime, wherever you may be, keep shooting and don’t forget – it’s supposed to be fun.
