Japan Photo Guide

A district of Sapporo, Susukino is Japan’s largest entertainment district north of Tokyo and is home to hundreds of restaurants, clubs, bars and other nightlife establishments. During the Sapporo Snow Festival, Susukino gets involved and has it’s own road of ice sculptures on display.

These ice sculptures (are maybe I should say ice advertisements because that is pretty much what they are) are cool but the best part or the little ice bars that open up at night. In 2007, there was a Baily’s, Hennessey and even a Song Park Karaoke place where you could sing a song and you get a score depending on how accurate you were and then depending on your score you would get a coupon for a real establishment of Song Park.

Check out the video of a few of the ice bars here and a few more photos after the jump. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Kobe is a really nice city between mountains and the ocean, about 40 minutes to an hour by train from Kyoto or Osaka. In 1995 there was the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake which left about 1 out of every 5 people homeless and killed over 5000 people. Because of the earthquake, a lot of Kobe has been rebuilt to make a fairly modern city. Even though the two days I was there it was raining, I still got a really good feeling from Kobe. Since it was raining I didn’t do much photography and cannot recommend much from a photographer’s view but as a tourist it was great! Since I wasn’t taking that many photographs I did the next best thing: eat! Kobe has some great food, both international like Brazilian, Mexican, Chinese and of course Japanese food. Maybe you have heard, but Kobe beef is fairly famous and really delicious. To be honest though, if you are coming from America, it tastes as good as any real good steakhouse such as Morton’s of Chicago or Ruth’s Chris. I went to a place called A-1 and for paid about $65 for a course meal including, a glass of wine, rice, soup, salad, vegetables french fries and of course a fillet of Kobe beef. All in all it was delicious, but coming from America I can’t honestly tell you that the price is worth it.

Most of the happening places in Kobe are fairly close together, either in Sannomiya or Harborland (above photo) . Sannomiya is perhaps the busiest part of Kobe with many restaurants, bars, shops, and 3 different train stations! Harborland is a few minute walk from Kobe Station, think of it as a huge (seriously I mean huge) shopping mail with more shops and restaurants than you can care to choose from. Also there is a ferris wheel which offers a nice view of Kobe.

For more information about the city of Kobe, check out The Kobe City Info page which has a lot of useful information about Kobe.

Odaiba is yet another shopping, eating and entertainment district in Tokyo. Odaiba has much to offer a photographer or visitor in Japan and is well known for the Rainbow Bridge, Fuji TV Building (below), a replica of the Statue of Liberty, shopping and crowds of people.

Odaiba actually has a lot of attractions but they are mainly geared more towards tourists (local or foreign in somecases) such as:

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  • Toyota Showroom (called Mega Web for some reason)
  • Ferris Wheel (where on a weekend the line gets as long as a two hour wait)
  • National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (bilingual)
  • National Museum of Maritime Science
  • Oedo Onsen Monogatari (the largest hot spring theme park in Japan, designed after the old Edo period)

I recommend getting there by taking the Yurikamome Line which is a fairly new (and slightly expensive) private train line that rides fairly high off the ground, over the Rainbow Bridge and between some really interesting and cool buildings. When the weather is nice, the train ride itself offers some great and unique views of Tokyo. You can transfer to the Yurikamome Line from Shimbashi. Below are photos of the Rainbow Bridge. The one taken during the day was taken while on the Yurikamome Line.

See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Shibuya is one of the larger shopping, entertainment and nightlife districs in Tokyo. Shibuya is close to Shinjuku and Harajuku on the Yamanote Train Line but each place has it’s own personality. Shibuya is kind of for younger crowds but really you will find all sorts in Shibuya. Everything from young school girls to yamambas (literally means girl from the mountains but these are the really really fake tan girls with elaborate make up) to old men to Yakuza to college kids to the average person and of course your fair share of gaijin (foreigners). Most of the shopping is for girls and women and for clothes but you can find almost anything in Shibuya, and I really mean almost anything. Below is one of the famous shopping buildings (tall 109 building) with 10 floors and over 100 shops, where about 99% of the stores are for girls.

No matter time you go, Shibuya is busy and it is a good palce to check out the trends of fashion in Japan, as Japan is typically a boom society, the trends come and go with the wind. The crossing in the photo below is one of the most famous and most photographed in Japan.

Below is the famous statue of a dog called Hachiko. I have heard many stories about this dog and I am not sure which parts are true, but the (bitter sweet) story I like to believe goes as following. Hachiko and the owner of the dog had a very special relationship. Everyday this dog met his owner at the Shibuya Station when he would come home from work; however, the man got old and one day he died while he was at work. The dog waited all night for his owner to come but of course he never did. Eventually Hachiko left Shibuya Station, but everyday, for the rest of the dog’s life, Hachiko would come back to Shibuya Station to wait for his owner. A statue was built to honor the dog and now it is a popular place to meet and wait for people; however, there are so many people waiting there it is not always easy to find your friends!

The nightlife scene is very happening in Shibuya with lot’s of clubs, restaurants, bars, adult entertainment and love hotels. Like I said earlier, whatever you are looking for can be found here.

Fore more more information check out the Japan-Guide.com.

Shibuya – article about the Shibuya area of Tokyo.

Ginza is an upscale shopping district in Tokyo that also has it’s fair share of nightlife and restaurants, most of which are fairly (by fairly I actually mean very) expensive. There are many famous designer shops, department stores and even a theater to see Kabuki (traditional Japanese theater) all year long. If you go on the weekend the roads are blocked off to traffic and you can freely walk around.

Below you can see people waiting for the Gucci store to open and also a melon from a department store. The sign with the melon says you can buy two of those bad boys for about 200 USD. Yes that is 200 not 2.00.

For more information about Ginza, see the Japan-Guide.com.

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.

Shinjuku is one of Tokyo‘s 23 wards and is a huge entertainment, shopping, business and (some) government district. Basically Shinjuku is a city within itself but is really just a (big) fraction of Tokyo. Shinjuku is very famous and has been in many movies including most recently “Lost in Translation” and “Kill Bill.” Shinjuku always seems busy no matter what time of day you go there and Shinjuku Station, is one of, if not the busiest station in the world. Shinjuku has a lot of really cool and large buildings (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office, for one which offers great views of Tokyo) as well as a lot of people, shops and restaurants.

If you go late at night it is not uncommon to see drunk, passed out salary men sleeping on the streets or friends carrying another friend who is too drunk to walk. I recommend going, but do be careful if you wander into Kabukicho, the entertainment, drinking, adult and red light district, which has a lot of ties with the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia). In general, this area is fairly safe compared to the rest of the world, but compared to the rest of Japan it is a little unsafe. That being said, just don’t go picking fights with anyone and you should be fine.

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

Sapporo, located in Japan’s most northern and largest island, Hokkaido, is Japan’s 5th largest city and is a really great place to visit. There is good food, nightlife, modern buildings, old buildings and easy to get around. Sapporo is perhaps most famous for it’s annual snow festival held in February, it’s beer, Sapporo Beer, and it’s ramen (miso butter corn ramen is a MUST try if you go there). Sapporo has everything from a chocolate factory to modern art museums to a thriving nightlife in Susukino. Also Olympic and winter games have been held there. Below on the left is Odori Koen and on the right the Washington Hotel.

If you can handle the cold, or like winter sports, going to Sapporo during the snow festival is a great time to go. The snow festival has amazing sculptures made of, you guessed, snow and ice. If you are more into not freezing, then in the summer months the weather in Sapporo is pretty mild and not as humid as the rest of Japan. Below is the Sapporo Beer Factory and Sapporo TV Tower.

Sapporo is about a 40 minute train ride from Chitose Airport, 3 hours from Hakodate and about 2 from Furano and Biei.

If you are going to Hokkaido and plan to travel I recommend thinking about getting one of the Hokkaido free rail passes (they have different ones for foreign tourists–3 and 5 days–and one that anyone cane use–7 days).

If you plan on only staying in Sapporo, you do not need a car, but if you plan on going to other areas of Hokkaido, it would not be a bad idea to consider renting a car as a lot of places in Hokkaido are best accessed by car.