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Japan

Oirase River in Aomori

The Oirase River in Aomori is a photographers playground! The river flows out of Lake Towada and is part of the Towada-Hachimantai National Park. The river has countless waterfalls, cascades, mossy boulders and beautiful beech forests. It would be nice to visit all year round, but for photography purposes I have always wanted to visit...Read More

Hiraizumi Temple

Hiraizumi is a beautiful old temple district in Iwate Prefecture. Home to Chusonji and dating from the year 850 there are a large number of lovely old wooden temples and religious artifacts. The area is listed as World Heritage and well worth a visit on your travels through northern Japan. The area is accessed by...Read More

Autumn in Japan – Renge Falls

Autumn in Japan is well known for red maple leaves in the rustic old temples and manicured gardens of Kyoto. Another highlight of the season for me is the countless river gorges and waterfalls of the Tohoku region (north of Tokyo) that display all the colours of the autumnal pallette. Renge Falls in Fukushima is...Read More

Winter in Japan

I’d like to share these winter in Japan shots from various locations during our visit. We’ll be back in Tassie tomorrow, and it’s been a wonderful visit to Japan. Maybe I need to put the thinking cap on and come up with a Japanese photography tour – shoot me a message if this is something...Read More
nakijin castle okinawa cherry blossoms japan 2023

Japan Cherry Blossoms 2023

Japan’s first cherry blossoms of 2023 have bloomed! And no, it is not global warming gone wild, it is a specific type of cherry called the “kanhizakura” which blooms in January in Okinawa, Japan’s most southerly island. The rest of Japan will enjoy its cherry blossom season in the months ahead, typically in March, so...Read More
japanese snow monkey park nagano

Japanese Snow Monkey Park in Nagano

Our summer holiday continues with a trip to the Japanese snow monkey park at Jigokudani (literally translates to the Valley of Hell!!) in Nagano Prefecture.       Something, somewhere must have gone very wrong as hell really seemed to have frozen over on our arrival in Nagano. The forecast was for daytime temperatures of...Read More
akiu otaki waterfall japan winter

Waterfalls of Japan – Akiu Otaki

We are having a great summer holiday in wintery Japan and one of the first photo stops we enjoyed was a day trip to the beautiful Akiu Otaki (falls) in Miyagi Prefecture, Northern Japan. The falls are easily accessed by car from the nearby onsen (hot spring) town of Akiu. A short walk from the...Read More

Fireflies in Japan

Funnily enough, after many, many visits, I had never seen or photographed fireflies in Japan. This year, shortly after arriving, we spotted some articles in the newspaper saying they were out and about, so I made a couple of trips to nearby Koori to see for myself. The first visit basically coincided with a full...Read More

Omoi no taki

Omoi no taki is another great waterfall in Fukushima, Japan. It is located not far from the onsen (hot spring) town of Tsuchi-yu, meaning after a morning photographing waterfalls it was lunch and a visit to an “ashi-yu” – or hot spring for your feet. The walk is very pleasant (as long as you don’t...Read More

Yoshinodaira fudou taki (falls) in Fukushima, Japan

I have spent most of the last month in Japan, where monstrous flooding rain in the west and a nationwide heatwave dominated the news almost everyday of our stay. We were based in the north, in Fukushima (which of course has had its own fair share of trouble in the recent past) but this year...Read More

The Japanese Umbrella Pine “Kouyamaki”

The Japanese Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys verticillata – click here for Wiki description) is a very rare and unique tree, endemic to Japan. I had heard there was a stand growing in Fukushima, which is the northern limit of its range. It can be found in other parts of Japan such as the Japanese Alps and...Read More
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