Japan Photo Guide

********UPDATED 3.6********

Now that the Sapporo Snow Festival is over, the next major thing to look forward to is the blooming of the cherry blossoms trees. Below is the first released forecast for the 2008 cherry blossom season from tenki.jp. The site is in Japanese, but here is google’s translation which you might be able to make some sense out of. Keep in mind that cherry blossom forecasts are not an exact science and are very subject to change.

Basically because of a warm winter, they are expecting earlier than usual blooming dates. Also be sure to check out sakurazensen if you can read Japanese, or try your look with google’s translation if you can’t. Just so you know, sakura zensen means cherry blossom forecast, so if you wanna do your own research you can google the kanji “桜前線” or try sakura zensen. Here is my previous post about cherry blossoms in general.

UPDATE 2.19 Weathernews.jp has released their own forecast.

UPDATE 3.6 Now the Japan Meteorology Agency has released their forcast.

When I show my photographs to my Japanese friends, a lot of times they tell me that they have never looked at the subject the way I do. While I would like to think it is only because I am a good photographer, a large part of it is that I am looking at a culture that isn’t my own and as a result, I just see things differently.

“The hardest place to find beauty is in your own backyard.”
–somebody smart

I believe this is one of the fundamental truths not only with photography but in life. Actually, when you think about it, it is saying the same thing as that quote about grass being greener… I know this is a travel photo travel blog, but sometimes we need to be reminded that what we are looking for can sometimes be right in front of us. Anyway, this post is to remind you, to go and search and “travel” the area where you live.

For example, during cherry blossom season, I traveled all over the Kansai region in hopes of getting some great photos, but as it turns out, some of my favorite photos from the 2007 cherry blossom season were taken about 10 minutes from where I live, in my own backyard.

See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

The Japan Meteorological Agency released their first cherry blossom forecast for 2007 on March 7th. Japan-Guide has made a table that is a bit easier to understand.

The winter of 2006-2007 has been much warmer than usual and the Asahi Shimbun is reporting that this year could set a record for the earliest blooming of sakura in Japan. In an article about the sakura forecast for 2007, the Asahi Shimbun says:

Cherry blossoms, nature’s way of saying spring is here, are likely to burst into bloom nationwide four to five days earlier than usual, a private meteorological company predicts.

On a related note, sakurazensen.com (sakura zensen means cherry blossom forecast) has some interesting graphs. Even if you cannot read Japanese like me, you can kind of understand what is going on. Where the line for the year hits the pink line, that is expected bloom date.

Also be sure to check out this table for average temperates in Tokyo by year/month and their respective bloom dates.

The first forecast for the 2008 Cherry Blossom season has been released!

If you can choose anytime of the year to come to Japan, cherry blossom season is the best time (also fall is a great time). During this time, the seasonal flowers can be seen all over Japan and make for great photos. The 2007 cherry blossom forecast will be released around late February or early March and can be seen at the site of the Japan Meteorology Agency.

When the winters are mild (like the winter of 2007 is) the cherry blossom trees tend to bloom a little earlier than normal. While the forecasts are usually pretty close, like the weather, when cherry blossoms bloom are still slightly unpredictable! Also, different factors such as how much sun a tree gets, play a large role as well.

See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Covering about 525 acres, Nara Park is the largest municipal park in Japan and includes many of Nara‘s famous attractions, including Todaiji, Kokufuji, Kasuga Taisha, and oh yeah, about 1200 (sort of) wild deer. I recommend just wondering around Nara Park and finding your ow nice little spot, as there are plenty of them. Of course, the best time to go would be either during cherry blossom season or fall but anytime of the year is fairly nice.

A little information about the deer; for the most part the deer are really well behaved (some even seem to bow after or before you feed them–really I promise!) and pose no threat to you but there are some things to take caution about: See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

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)

Ueno Park (Ueno Koen), along with Yoyogi Park, are the two most famous parks in Tokyo. Yoyogi and Ueno Park are on opposite sides of the Yamanote Line and kind of have opposite personalities, for example Yoyogi is most famous for it’s ginko trees which turn golden in the fall and Ueno for it’s cherry blossom (sakura) which turn pearly white in the spring. Ueno Park right next to Ueno Station and close to Asasuka, Nippori and Akihabara. The photo below was taken at sunrise.

Both parks are very nice and each has it’s advantages. Ueno has a huge lake in the middle, a zoo (including the ever popular Giant Pandas), homeless people (but not a whole city like in Yoyogi Park), morning joggers, temples and shrines, crows and everything else you would expect from a park in Tokyo. There is no question that the best time to go there is in the spring when the cherry blossom are blooming. I actually went to Ueno park a couple days too early as you can see, only some of the blossoms are in bloom, but you can imagine if all of them were in bloom!

See more photos and read the rest of this entry »