Japan Photo Guide

Yeah I know this has nothing to do with photography in Japan, but I am trying to broaden my horizons a little and I am sharing this with you because I found the results somewhat interesting. The thing is, I had to give a presentation about Japanese student motivation in English class. For this presentation, the other presenter and I decided it would be useful to give our students a survey.

We conducted a survey with about 200 Japanese high school students that are in their first year of high school. Students had to answer on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being “strongly agree” and 1 being “strongly disagree.” The overall results are not too different from what I expected; however, things do start to get interesting once you break it down and separate the opinions of the boys vs. girls.

Things are not too different above, however… See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

This post has information and photos mainly about the consumer fish market at Tsukiji. If you are interested, there is also a post more specifically on the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market at Tsukiji.

Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場) is a large wholesale and consumer market in Tokyo. In fact, it is the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. In recent years it has become a popular tourist attraction for foreigners. Tsukiji is in Tokyo close to Ginza. The best time to go is early in the morning when most of the action is going on in the wholesale market, from around 5-9am. This works out nicely for those that have just arrived and are still jet lagged or for the more adventurous souls that stay out all night and then catch the first train.

These photos were taken at the consumer market next to the wholesale one. The wholesale market is where they have the huge tuna and auctions. Be aware, while it has become a popular place for tourists, people are working here, so if you go try not to get in their way (especially the ones with sharp tools or driving mini forklift looking machines). See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

No, I am not talking about C-3P0 from Star Wars and not that 90s gospel/hip-hop/pop song (that is GP not CP), but CP is for Christine Perez. I would like to welcome Christine as the newest member of babibubebo.com.  She has recently returned to the U.S.A after a year-long teaching assignment in Japan and a three month backpacking trip across Asia. She currently lives in Florida and is pursuing her interests as a freelance writer.

So go read her first post about Beppu and give her a warm welcome!

If you are one of those people who like to let your fingers turn wrinkly after a long swim or shower, you’ll love Beppu. Located on the western island of Kyushu, it is home to some of the most geo-thermal activity in the world. As a result, Beppu is the pinnacle of onsen culture. Thanks to nearby Mt. Aso, the entire town of Beppu is built on deep pockets of scolding steam. One might otherwise forget about this fact, and the charming little town built on it, if it wasn’t for the steam rising from cracks in the sidewalks, sewer vents and half-pipes. Leave it to the Japanese to have cleverly harvested it’s power by turning potentially dangerous cravats of heat to stellar onsens where one can get anything from a therapeutic sand bath to a steam inhaling session.

Beppu has marketed some of the largest–and hottest–bodies of water as “The Eight Hells.” These are not for dipping, however. Most of them are well beyond boiling point and serve better as a great place to take photos. While each are unique, the most noteworthy are Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) — a vibrant cobalt blue — and Chinoike Jigoku (Blood Pool Hell) — which is a deep red and bubbles to the surface just below boiling point. Tourists can purchase tickets to each of the “Hells” for 400 yen, or they can purchase a ticket that includes all eight “Hells” for 2,000 yen. An afternoon is plenty of time to catch a bus to several of these “Hells,” although the more ambitious can walk to all of them.

The onsens at Beppu comprise some of the most diverse onsens in Japan. Sand baths, mub baths, fluorescent baths, outdoor and indoor baths, scented baths and more can be found here. One of the outdoor mud baths is so reputable, that even Mother Theresa paid it a visit. Beppu has mastered the zen of relaxation.

The steam has not only produced some of the best onsens in Japan, but it is also nature’s best boiling pot. Street vendors sit straw baskets of corn and raw eggs over cracks in the sidewalk for several minutes, and sell the finished products to locals and tourists. I have never had a juicier corn on the cob in my life. If you’re in western Japan, why not go to heaven in Beppu…or one of the hells?

For more information see the Beppu City Guide.

Seeing how it is now the middle of winter for us northern hemisphere people, I thought I should give a little advice on photography in the winter…actually to be more specific I wanna talk about camera care during the winter. Taking some precautions to take care of your camera in the winter is very important and a few simple things can keep you from causing serious–and sometimes permanent– damage to your camera.

The first thing you should be aware of is that cold weather will reduce your battery life (sometimes drastically), so not only should you have a spare battery but you may want to carry your battery charger with you at all times when traveling. Nothing is more frustrating than missing a great shot because the batteries are dead! Another type about battery life, if you know you will not be using your camera for an extended period of time (while you are sleeping for example) take your batteries out of your camera because even if your camera is turned off, the contact in the camera will slowly but surely drain your batteries!

While having dead batteries is annoying, a more serious problem is condensation. This could happen when you come inside to a heated room after you have been outside in cold weather. There are a couple of things you can do to help reduce the chances of this happening. Put your camera in a zip lock plastic bag before going inside to help prevent condensation from forming inside your camera (instead, condensation might form on the bag itself). Another way to prevent condensation is to bring the camera into a room that does not have heating first and let it adjust to that temperature so there is not such a drastic change in temperature. If you have a reason to believe that condensation has formed in your camera, take out the battery and memory card and leave the doors to your camera open to let it dry out.

When leaving a hot room to go outside into the cold, there isn’t as much to worry about, but you still need to be careful of condensation or water. If there is condensation in your camera and you go outside to very cold weather, if this condensation freezes it will result in permanent damage and most likely the use of some 4 letter words.

Those are pretty much the main things to consider while doing winter photography, but if anyone else has some tips please leave a comment!

Wanna see the other photography tips and tricks?

I have been on vacation for the past few weeks which is why it has been a while since I have added something new. In any case, my vacation is coming to an end soon and I will get back to updating this guide to Japan. I have big plans and goals, so I hope you continue to come check things out at Japan Photo Guide. Also, I am looking for some more contributers so if you are interested, contact me and let me know. I hope everyone had a happy and healthy new year and look forward to this site growing in the future! Thanks for your support!