Japan is one of my favourite countries to visit, and Tokyo one of my favourite cities.
In July 2024 I visited Tokyo for the fourth time, having come in 2013, 2016, and then 2019. Each trip I've seen different parts of the country, but until this trip, mainly the Kanto region (Tokyo) and Kansai region (Kyoto and Osaka). Tokyo is such a huge city with so much variety that I've seen something new on each trip. As I've become more and more involved in photography, it's also led me further away from the 'big' sites, or places that I've spent a lot of time in before. On this most recent trip, the luxury of travelling solo meant that I could almost completely disregard sightseeing and plan my itinerary around the things I wanted to photograph. I also made sure to leave myself a lot of time to change things up, go where my intuition told me to, and have the freedom to stay in one place for as long as I needed.
Despite all of their recent problems, I still really like flying Qantas as each time I fly I get a hit of nostalgia for my previous trips, and it feels like a part of the 'ritual' in leaving Australia and then returning on something familiar at the end. I flew on points, and found a fantastic business classic reward (the best value points option) flight only 3 weeks before leaving, so changed my original booking via Cairns to a direct flight from Melbourne. I really enjoyed my flights which were almost flawless, and I REALLY enjoyed their Japanese set menu. I really have a soft spot for Qantas, and hope that they can resolve their customer promise, loyalty must go both ways.
Inspirations & Research
In addition to saving posts I love on instagram, I also do lots of research before I arrive. I like to have 2 or 3 pre-planned locations each day, and then leave the rest to chance. I found myself using two main sites for locations on this trip:
A few years back I bought a Japan Photography e-book from an excellent photographer Pat Kay. I absolutely love his street photography, and his guide is an excellent resource to use planning a photo trip to Japan.
For this trip I also used the great photo guides from Michael at Walk Over the World. This site has stunning photography, and great guides to some of the best locations in cities all over the world.
Hotels
For the first 2 nights I stayed in Lyf Ginza, as I'd never stayed in that area before, and would be near Tokyo Station, Tokyo International Forum, and the Imperial Palace.
It was an interesting stay! It's a pretty cool little hotel, with a great array of co-working and leisure spaces, with a selection of different room types. I chose the 'Good for One Plus' room, which was sort of like a very large capsule hotel room with en-suite. It was really really well designed with a great use of a small space. I felt as a solo traveller I had just enough space to relax and not feel claustrophobic. I would happily stay here again, but definitely this room only as a solo traveller.
For the remaining nights I stayed in Apartment Hotel Shinjuku. This is a pretty unique hotel. It's literally a 5 minute walk from Shinjuku Station in what feels like a tiny little residential pocket between Shinjuku Station and Shinjuku National Gyoen Garden.
It's a 2 star hotel with an eclectic display of 'objects' out front, in the reception and in the rooms. It holds occasional exhibitions and has a small working space for rent. It has a sort of industrial shabby chic. I stayed in a 'small double room' which was comfortable for one person. I feel that two people would struggle in that bed! Other than that, there was a desk, table, tiny kitchen and en-suite Barely enough room to lay down and open one luggage. But apart from that, enough space. For the rate, great value and a great location after a long day out shooting.
Day 1
My first day in Tokyo was pouring with rain and cold, so I booked myself into an Arigato Travel breakfast tour of the old Tsukiji Fish Market. I subscribe to Bokksu (Japanese snacks delivered every month) and they had a discount for the tour that I took advantage of! It was a cool tour, and we got to eat sooo much delicious seafood. The actual market where all the big auctions take place has moved to a new industrial site, but there are still quite a few wholesalers left here. We started the tour atTurret Coffeewhere I had one of the best coffees of the trip!
After the tour I hung around the market for a couple of hours shooting a bunch of images. I felt really incompetent and full of self-doubt, questioning what I was doing on a 2.5 week solo trip taking pictures, that I would never compare with all of the other amazing photographers, and that I'd come home with nothing special. Such great self-talk!! I told myself to stop being stupid, just take pictures and live in the moment, and it would come good.
After the market I was pretty damn cold and wet, so I made my way to the Tokyo International Forum where I could spend a few hours inside getting my architectural gears turning. The light was super soft and diffuse due to the cloud cover, but it was actually great to get to know the building, and find various vantage points that I could come back to later on. Later that night I came back to photograph the forum with all the lights on.
After a couple of hours, I left the forum and made my way to Yurakucho Yokochowhich is an area full of restaurants and izakayas, and has a really cool old Tokyo feel to it. Naturally as I got there, the heavens opened up and I huddled under the nearest awning. I made myself get my gear out and start shooting. Luckily I had a rain cover for my cam, and an umbrella for myself, but still, that rain got pretty much everywhere. Eventually with my feet soaking wet, my teeth chattering and my body starting to shiver, I thought it may be a good idea to get inside and eat something! I went to the first place I came across, an Izakaya, and chose a bunch of random delicious things to eat.
A quick stop at Tokyo station on the way back to the hotel and some much needed warmth!
Day 2
I woke up early to get out and shoot the streets of Ginza as the sun rose. I walked up to Kabuki-Za, the main theatre for Kabuki in Tokyo. I had spotted it as I was walking through the rain the day before. I had used photo pills to try and estimate the time when the sun would just light up the theatre from the side. It was a pretty overcast day, so the light was quite soft. I eventually got a few breaks in the clouds, but had to leave to go check out of my first hotel.
I had the hotel hold my luggage for the rest of the day and headed off to the Imperial Palace for a tour of the grounds. There were literally hundreds of people there for the tour. We were all split into language groups, with English being enourmous and only with one guide. I hung out to the back of our group pretty much just focussing on shooting images as we went, and couldn't really hear anything that was being said. There was an app that you could download to listen to pre-recorded commentary if you wanted to.
After the tour I took some shots of Tokyo Station, and finally came away with one with beautiful light reflecting off one of the nearby buildings, and Japanese flags up out the front. I really like to shoot images like this from close to the ground, and if possible with some greenery at the bottom. It helps to disguise expanses of empty concrete, minimises the crowds of people, and gives dominance to the building
I then visited the International Forum again, and this time the light was absolutely perfect! The clear sky produced wonderful light and shadow both in the upper levels of the building, but also incredible patterns of light and shade on the ground. I spent a couple of hours here watching where the light was moving and finding new compositions. Once I found a composition and coupled it with the light, it was then a matter of waiting for the perfect person to come into the perfect position to create images that spoke to me. Across the three visits I probably spent around 5 or 6 hours in this building. I think it was certainly worth it!
After the International Forum, I was in a very architectural frame of mind, so caught the train out to Kioi Sendo. This is an intriguing building designed by Hiroshi Naito that you can learn more about here. The design brief was "The functions will be considered according to what has been done, so please design as you like". The result is concrete cube covered in panelled glass, with an exterior staircase that seems to lead nowhere, and a door that cannot open. The interior looks incredible and is somewhere that I would love to photograph one day. The current owner is the RINRI Institute for ethics and no longer allows tours of the building. I still had a great time photographing the exterior.
I tried to arrive in time to see beautiful side light from the setting sun, but unfortunately surrounding buildings meant that Kioi Sendo was in shadow, and the glass panels were reflecting the light from those buildings. Without a circular polariser I was really unhappy with the results I was getting, so went off in search of dinner, with a plan to return once the light had faded. I ended up having a quick but delicious meal at Matsuya, before returning to photograph the building again. The light was far more conducive, and interior lights had turned on in the building. I spent an hour and a half or so here trying to find the essence of the building. I'm largely happy with the results, but there was one aspect that I just could not get to work. Maybe next time!
Day 3
Up and at it early again, my location for a morning shoot was the train bridge near Ochanomizu Station.
I read about this spot in Walk Over the World's Tokyo Guide, and it really appealed to me. It's a point where multiple train lines converge on different levels and you can get a sense of the precision of the Tokyo metro system. A great spot to shoot in the morning, with almost no tall buildings obscuring the light. If you wait around long enough, you'll be able to catch trains on all three lines. My shot below is a composite from a number of images.
Akihabara is Tokyo's electronics video game and manga mecca. I've shot here on a number of different occasions, and particularly enjoyed my last trip walking through the tiny corridors of an electronics building, photographing various stall holders. On this trip, I was simply walking around the streets hoping to capture whatever took my fancy - looking for those moments of serendipity. I had in my head an image of gachapon (toy vending machines) with direct light and shadow, and had almost given up until I was walking back to the station and came across this scene.
My next stop is more for an architectural flavour. I'm really drawn to brutalist architecture, and a location that's been in my mind for a while is St Mary's Cathedral (designed by Kenzo Tange). Read about the architectural design here. It's a little out of the way, and not in a particularly touristy area, but that's the beauty of being on a solo trip - you can go wherever you want! A train and 2 bus rides got me there easily enough. I'd never actually seen the exterior, but it's rather magnificent and visible for kms around the lower lying areas of the district.
The cathedral is notable for its modernist structure, made up of eight curved walls, or hyperbolic parabolas, which form a large cross. It is made of concrete covered by stainless steel. The imposing interior has seating for 600 and standing room for 2,000. It also contains Japan's largest pipe organ. Concerts are also held here due to the building’s excellent acoustics.Source.
The interior of the cathedral is breathtaking. In a completely different sense to the Vatican in its ornate theatrics, this space contrasts its raw concrete with delicate curves and high ceilings to create a place that feels beautiful and reverent. Watching the light spilling through the windows onto the concrete walls felt so beautiful that I was overcome for a moment and could work out what the emotion I was feeling was.
Photography was not allowed inside, so instead I took a quick photo with my iPhone. Again, this is a space that I would absolutely love to spend a day capturing.
My final photography stop in Tokyo is a spot that is pretty famous with photographers, again is a little out of the way, but is a quintessential neighbourhood scene. This seafood restaurant near Shiinamachi Station must be one of the most photographed 'non touristy' spots in Tokyo. I arrived perhaps an hour before sunset and set up for a few quick shots, intending to go grab some food or a coffee and come back when the sun was a little lower. As I was taking some images another photographer arrived and set up, so I get talking. An awesome guy Liam from Broome in Australia. While we were talking another photographer turned up, Nicholas from France. We had a great time chatting away while shooting at this spot as the light changed from dusk to evening. Afterwards off to a local restaurant for some dinner, beer and great conversations.
Day 4 & 5
Early in the morning on my fourth day in Tokyo I caught the train to Mt Fuji and stayed the night - I'll write a separate blog for my 2 days at Fuji!
I got back to Tokyo in the mid afternoon on my fifth day and spent most of it preparing for my next stop, a four night walk on the Nakasendo Way in the Kiso Valley.
That night I went to Souhsi Menya Musashi for delicious ramen on my final night in Tokyo (I'd been here on previous trips, so it was also a bit nostalgic too). I stopped on the bridge to the south of Shinjuku Station to shoot the crowds, traffic, train and neon lights, before a walk through Omoide Yokocho to cap the night off.
Day 6
For my final morning in Tokyo, I decided to catch the train to the Meiji Shrine for a relaxing couple of hours before I set off for the Nakasendo Way. I've been here a few times before, but my images were decidedly on the happy snap end of the spectrum. I was quite excited to see what sort of images I would be able to capture with 4-5 years more experience under my belt.
