Japan Photo Guide

Tokyo Dome is the 55,000 seat stadium home to the Yomiuri Giants. It has hosted everything from NBA and NFL games to monster truck, mixed martial arts and pro wrestling. Next to Tokyo Dome is a place called LaQua which is a shopping and restaurant building. In addition a small amusement park that has a telecaster that goes through the main building, a water ride, bowling and a ferris wheel. To get there by JR you should get off at Suidobashi Station or by subway at Korakuen Station. The below photos is courtesy of PhotoPassJapan.com.

One thing that makes Tokyo Dome worth checking out is food. Especially in the building called LaQua which has a wonderful yakiniku place called Jojoen. It is expensive, but trust me, it is worth it to go one time. Besides the food, just the architecture of the area can make for some nice photos and it is kind of a unique place compared to other parts of Tokyo. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Ikebukuro is yet another large entertainment and commercial district of Tokyo. Ikebukuro JR Station is the 2nd busiest in Tokyo (1st is Shinjuku Station) and it’s subway station is the busiest in Tokyo. It is estimated that about 1 million people pass through Ikebukuro on a normal day. There are what seem to be an endless amount of shops and restaurants in Ikebukuro and while it is an interesting place, I recommend checking out Shibuya and/or Shinjuku first. If you still need more of an urban fix and have time, then you should head over to Ikebukuro. To be honest, it doesn’t feel too different from those places except for maybe a little older; however, there is another reason why you might want to go to Ikebukuro….

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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.

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Asakusa, about one mile from Ueno in Tokyo, is most famous for the Buddhist temple Sensoji, inluding a huge lantern at the entrance (photo below), five story pagoda and a traditional Nakamise shopping arcade. At the shopping arcade you can find lots of souvenirs from fake swords and katanas to wall scrolls to funny tshirts (for example changing “Puma” to “Kuma,” which is bear in Japanese, along with a logo change) to photos of pop idols. You can also take a rickshaw ride and occasionally see geisha or maiko.

If you are spending time in Tokyo, Asakusa is worth checking out and a lot of interesting photos can be made here. Also there are a lot of festivals in Asakusa throughout the year, these festivals, or “matsuri” in Japanese, always make for good photographs. Here is some information with short descriptions of the festivals in Asakusa and here is another list with the 2007 dates of festivals in Asakusa. Note that some of the dates may change from year to year. Perhaps one of the more interesting festivals is the annual Samba Festival, which takes place in late August. It is interesting because it is obviously very different from the usual traditional festival in Japan. Here is more information on the history of the samba festival in Asakusa. Below is a photo of the shopping arcade.

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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.

Akihabara, aka Akiba aka “Electric Town,” is the electronic district of Tokyo. If you are looking for some new camera gear, video games, video camera, mp3 player, media player or whatever gadget you are looking for, you can find it in Akihabara. You can find duty free shopping (don’t forget you passport if you plan to buy duty free) and while you use to be able to find really good deals here but they are starting to become harder to find. If you look around, you can still find some good deals but I highly recommend going to a few different places before you buy something.

Akihabara is also undergoing some changes. While it use to be just “Electric Town,” it has morphed into that and also a place associated with manga (Japanese Comics), cosplay (shot for costume play) and maid cafes (cafes where you are served by a girl wearing a french maid outfit).

One store I need to specifically recommend is Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara, you can see the entrance to the store on the right. Yodobashi Camera is a chain for electronic stores all over Japan and this is the largest. This place has 7 floors of electronic goodness from everything to cell phones, cameras, video games, heated toilet seats, washers, fridges, massage chairs and pretty much anything else you can think of. For those of you Americans out there, picture a Bust Buy store and then give that store 7 floors. This place is huge and if you are into electronics is a must see!

For more information about Akihabara see the officail Akihabara home page or the Japan-Guide.com.

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.