Japan Photo Guide

Japan Photo Guide has just announced a tour and travel experience for Japan during the 2012 cherry blossom season! The 2012 cherry blossom forecast hasn’t been released yet, but the details of small group tour to Japan are available.  What makes this tour special is the fact you get to travel around Japan with 2 guides, one a professional photographer and the other a Japanese tour guide.  Both of which have extensive travel experience and have lived in Japan.  While the tour is designed for photographers, spouses and friends that aren’t photographers are welcome to join as well.  Especially because there are two guides, this makes the tour more flexible if there is need to spilt up from time to time if the photographers are moving along at a different pace than others… Anyone who has traveled with their photographer spouse or friend knows exactly what I’m talking about!  To keep the tour intimate and special for everyone, there are only a limited number of spaces, only 8, so don’t miss out on this special experience!

Back in August I had a photo show at the Apple Store in Sendai. Basically, it is a slide show of some of my favorite photos of Japan accompanied by shamisen artists Rika Ooba and Yuya Takahashi. If you are unable to use the sound on your computer I strongly suggest waiting until you have access or are able to use the sound, as their music is beautiful. Enjoy!

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Got good photographs of Japan? Want to share them with others? Want your 15 minutes (or more) of fame? Send me your photos and if you make the cut I will put them on my website! Of course you will be given full credit and I will link to your site if you have one. Please mail all submissions to japanphotocontest@gmail.com and write “contest” as the subject. Also you need to provide information about where your photograph was taken and any relevant information. Good luck with the Japan Photo Contest!

*NOTICE*

By submitting your photographs you give me the right to edit and publish your photograph(s) for babibubebo.com.

Previous Winners:

• Greg Logan
• Laura Kumataka
• Myriam Ward (Kamakura)
• Laurenz Bobke (Shinjuku Gyoen)

Hiroshima City is the largest city in the Chugoku Region of Japan. After the war, it was rebuilt as a “peace memorial city.” Hiroshima is a nice city and fairly easy to navigate. Among other things, the Peace Park–which includes and the A-Bomb Dome (below), Peace Memorial Museum and more–is good place to take some photographs but also to learn about the history of Hiroshima and the after effects of the bomb.

Also Miyajima, one of Japan’s 3 most scenic views, is just a short ferry ride away. If you plan on visiting Miyajima, a lot of people stay in Hiroshima for the night and visit Miyajima the next day because Hiroshima has much more of a nightlife, restaurants, cheaper places to stay and more things to do; however if you are a photographer I recommend staying the night in Miyajima. While it is a little more expensive and there is no nightlife, you will find it really nice before and after all the tourists leave the island.

For more information, please see the Japan-Guide.com or here is the official Hiroshima City website.

Miyajima is considered to be one of the 3 most scenic places in Japan, and in my opinion, of the famous 3, Miyajima is the best place for a photographer. To be fair it is also the most diverse having everything from Itsukushima Shrine (the tori gate that is floating in the ocean) to it’s own mountain… with monkeys that live on the top. Who doesn’t like monkeys? I mean really?

Also it should be noted that deer walk around the island like they own the place. I went during cherry blossom season and it was really beautiful, but Miyajima is worth going to at anytime of the year. Also I was surprised that sometimes the floating tori gate, isn’t floating. All the famous photos you see of it are when the tide is in, but when the tide goes out you can walk up right next to (or search for clams like some people do).

Miyajima is about 20 minutes to one hour away from Hiroshima by boat–depending on which boat and from where you leave. Be sure to check ferry schedules going both ways before you go, if you miss the last ferry there are not too many places to stay (they can also be a little expensive) and during peak travel season you may end up without a place to stay!For more access information see the Japan-guide.com.

Also here is the official site of Miyajima.

Matsuhima is considered to be one of the 3 most scenic places of Japan. Matsushima is a bay with hundreds of islands, that have been carved away by the ocean, that are covered with pine trees. Matsushima is an amazing place but for a photographer the weather will drastically make or break your photos.

Of course this could be true for any place and seems like common sense, but Matsushima is a place that it’s true beauty can only be appreciated with good weather (and the right time of the day). During the day you can take a boat ride/tour throughout the bay. Also you can walk through some of the larger islands which can be nice.

Matsushima is close to Sendai and can be reached by train. For more detailed access information please see the Japan-guide.com.

Amanohashidate is considered to be one the 3 most scenic views of Japan. Located in Kyoto Prefecture, about 2 hours from the city of Kyoto, it is kind of out of the way of most travel plans. If you have ample time, it is worth checking out, but to be honest, if you have limited time you are better off in Kyoto, Nara or IMHO even Himeji Castle.

Amanohashidate means “bridge to heaven,” and it is said that if you go up to either one of the hills that overlooks the 3.6km long sandbar covered with pine trees, that it looks like a bridge leading to heaven. Both hilltops can be accessed by cable car and have nice views (assuming it isn’t cloudy like the day I went). The sandbar takes about 45 minutes to walk from end to end and makes for a nice walk.

For more access information please see the Japan-Guide.com.

For more access information please see the .

The Chugoku region consists of the following prefectures: Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Shimane and Tottori. Okayama is commonly included, although only Bitchu Province was considered a Middle Country, Mimasaka Province and Bizen Province, the other two components of modern-day Okayama, were considered Near Countries. The Chugoku region is characterized by irregular rolling hills and limited plain areas and is divided into two distinct parts by mountains running east and west through its center. The city of Hiroshima, the “capital” of the Chugoku region, was rebuilt after being destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945, and is now an industrial metropolis of more than one million people.

Here are some places worth photographing/seeing.

–Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroshima, Itsukushima Shrine (Miyajima)
–Yamaguchi Prefecture: Iwakuni, Hofu, Shimonoseki, Hagi
–Shimane Prefecture: Tsuwano, Izumo, Matsue

For more information, please see wikipedia or the Japan-Guide.com.