Narita Gion Matsuri
This past weekend I went with fellow photographer Anthony Wood to the Narita Gion Matsuri. Since coming back to Japan in 2012, I haven’t been to that many festivals, so when Anthony invited me to join him at this one, I was excited to take him up on it. And this one did not disappoint! From the crowds to the floats, the atmosphere is a wonderful mixture of playful and traditional. I could say more,...
Plum Blossoms at Yushima Tenjin Jinja
Although Japan’s most famous flower is almost certainly the Cherry Blossom, the country also boasts another beautiful floral tree known as Ume [oo-meh], better known in English as the plum blossom. Like most flowers these come in a variety of colors, though primarily visitors will run across two specific colors: pink and white. While these lovely trees are not as numerous as the Cherry Blossoms, there are many great places around Tokyo to enjoy them....
Frozen Protector
This is another photo from one of the big snows we had around Japan in February. The statue here is called “komainu” – a lion/dog which is believed by some to protect the nearby shrine from evil spirits. I don’t know about that, but I do know it makes for an interesting photographic subject and I’ve often been interested by this particular angle, but until it snowed I had a hard time getting a shot...
Orange Autumn Evening at Matsudo Jinja
Although Spring is on the way, it feels to me like Autumn was only yesterday. I think part of the reason is that the Autumn colors this year seemed to last for a while. The Autumn of 2012 didn’t seem nearly as colorful to me, especially around where I live. But this year the colors lasted well into December. Not that I’m complaining – it was a beautiful sight, and gave me plenty of opportunity...
Half Clean at Nezu Jinja
I took this photo back during last Summer at the Nezu Jinja in Tokyo, an area I actually pass through every day in and out of the city. The architecture around this shrine is pretty impressive, and for a lesser known one its grounds are quite expansive. I spent most of my time actually on the outside edges of the grounds, where to me at least the most interesting photographic subjects were located. This water...