Japan Photo Guide

Nebuta Matsuri, in Aomori Prefecture, is considered to be one of Tohoku’s best festivals. Apparently a lot of people think so because last year an estimated 3.7 million people came to see it! Nebuta takes place from August 2nd to the 7th every year and after living in Japan for a few years I will finally have the chance to go this year in 2007. There are actually 3 festivals in Aomori at about the same time and all of them are similar, but slightly different. The three are:

• • Nebuta in Aomori(most famous and has huge lantern floats)
  • Neputa in Hirosaki (smaller fan shaped lanterns)
  • Tachi Neputa in Goshogawara (instead of huge wide lanterns, this one has really tall ones…up to 22 meters and 16 tons!)

One thing you need to know about Nebuta is that it is REALLY crowded. If you are just a spectactor it might not matter as much, but if you are a photographer, you should do one of the following things to be able to get an unobstructed view:

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Tanabata, according to wikipedia, is a Japanese star festival, derived from Obon traditions and the Chinese star festival, Qi Xi. The festival is usually held on July 7, and celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). The Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year. This special day is the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar; however, in Sendai, Tanabata is celebrated from August 6th-8th and has fireworks on the 5th.

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Geibikei (猊鼻渓), along with Genbikei (厳美渓), are two famous gorges in Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku Region of Japan, with Geibikei being the more famous of the two.  Geibikei is about 30 minutes by bus from Ichinoseki Station and 30 minutes by train on the Ofunato Line also from Ichinoseki Station.  Geibikei’s main appeal is that you take a boat ride down a shallow river that runs between cliffs as tall as 100 meters (about 328 feet).

Round trip the boat ride takes about 90 minutes and at the half way point you can get off the boat and walk around some before coming back.  The boats run from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm in the spring and summer, until 4:00 pm in November and from December to March run from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm.  Bringing food and drinks is allowed but be warned there are little to no trash cans, so you will be holding your trash.

The boat ride and scenery is very beautiful and relaxing, though as you might imagine, the 100 meter cliffs can make for some difficult lighting situations if you are trying to take photographs.  That being said, you should still l be able to get some good shots.  I went during the fall which was beautiful, but if you can bear the cold, I imagine after a fresh snow this place is really nice as well. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Genbikei (厳美渓), along with Geibikei (猊鼻渓), are two famous gorges in Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku Region of Japan, with Geibikei being the more famous of the two. Genbikei can easily be reached by bus in about 30 minutes from Ichinoseki station. While being the less famous of the two gorges, if you are in Iwate Prefecture it is still worth checking out. I went in the fall season but the Genbikei claims that it offers a spectacular view during all four seasons.

There are a few trails you can walk along and follow Genbikei and the Iwai River that flows through it, but they are not so easily accessible. I did not walk too far so maybe at some point upstream it becomes more accessible but you can will probably be content after spending about 45 minutes or an hour there.

Actually, Genbikei might be most famous for it’s “Flying Dango.” Dango is a sticky riceball that comes in various favors such as seaseme (goma), red bean paste (an), or my personal favorite (the one with light brown sauce on the right), soy sauce (mitarashi). Genbikei has “Flying Dango” because a restaurant on one side of the gorge sends it to the other side of the gorge via rope and basket.

For more information see the Iwate Prefecture Tourist Site or the Tohoku Tourist Site.

Naruko is most famous for it’s onsens (hot spring baths) but almost as famous for it’s fall leaves or koyo in Japanese. Naruko is one of the most famous places to see the fall leaves in the Tohoku area is the most famous in Miyagi Prefecture. I went there October 21st, 2006 and it was just a little bit too early. If you live in the Tohoku or Miyagi area, by next weekend (28th) it should be really nice! By local train, Naruko is about 2 hours from Sendai and 40 minutes to Naruko from Furukawa (depending on where you are coming from, you should change at Furukawa or Kogata to get to Naruko). The station you want to get off at is called Naruko Onsen.

From the station you can walk to some places of interest but also there are a few buses and taxis if you don’t want to walk the whole time. One of the more popular places to go is Naruko Gorge. It is about a 30 minute walk from Naruko Onsen Station and it takes about 1 hour to walk through the gorge. At the end their is a really famous bridge, that you can see in the photos here, and a really nice view of the gorge. I recommend taking the bus to the end of the gorge where the bridge is and then walking back towards the station through Naruko Gorge. The gorge, while being slightly commercialized, is actually quite a nice and easy walk with a few waterfalls, bridges and interesting rocks and cliffs. As you can imagine, being as it is a gorge, sometime the lighting can be somewhat tricky with places completely in shadow and completely in direct sunlight.

Other places of interest include, Naruko Tropical Botanical Gardens, Katanuma Lake (although it is a lot smaller than I thought it would be), Naruko Damn and a nature trail at Jigokudani (which passes by a famous geyser). See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Okamako, Okama Lake, is a 320m lake in a crater, created from a volcanic eruption in the 1720s. Okamako is on Mt. Zao in Yamagata prefecture and about and hour or two from Sendai. It is also known as the “Five Color Swamp” (五色沼, goshiki numa) because depending on the season and the weather the lake changes color.

To be honest, it should also be known as “usually too cloudy to see but still beautiful lake,” because most of the time it is really cloudy and you can only catch glimpses of the ever changing lake. I was there for about 4 hours and could actually “see” the shy lake for a total of about 3 minutes maybe and these are by “see”  I kind of mean catch a glimpse.  I am not sure if there is really anyway to find out what the weather is like before going, because I went twice on sunny days but Okamako is so high up on Mount Zao that on a sunny day it was cloudy there (see the very bottom photo). On the other hand, the other photos, taken by Laura Kumataka, were taken on a cloudy and a little rainy day, but again, Okamako is so high up she got above the clouds.  Maybe the secret is going on a rainy day and just hope you can get above the clouds. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Yamadera is one of the more popular tourist spots in the Tohoku Region of Japan. Yamadera is located on the Senzan Line about 15 minutes from Yamagata and is about one hour from Sendai. You only need about 2 or 3 hours to see all of Yamadera so if you have more time and like hiking, I suggest getting off one stop before at Omoshiroyama Kogen and walk from there.

Yamadera is built into the mountains and offers great views. To get to the top takes about 45 minutes from the entrance. A common thing to do in, as seen in the photo on the right, is to put some money into the bark of trees at temples and then make a wish. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Omoshiroyama is the in Yamagata Prefecture and one stop before Yamadera on the Senzan Line and about 50 minutes from Sendai. Omoshiroyama Kogen has a nice hiking trail that runs next to a river. If you want to go to Yamadera but want to do some hiking as well, Omishiroyama Kogen is a good place to get off.

The hiking trail is about a 45 minute to an hour walk (assuming you are not stopping to take photographs–it took me about an hour and half taking photographs), but then after the trail runs out you have to walk another 45 minutes or an hour to get to Yamadera. Also there is not much as far as signs pointing where to go, so don’t go by yourself or don’t go if you are short on time and want to make it to Yamadera.

The hiking trail is really quite beautiful, especially during fall, as you pass by waterfalls, through a gorge and over bridges; however at some points the route can be a little slippery and very narrow. Once you get to the end of the trail you will go up some steps which will take you to a pathway which leads to a road. Once you get to the road, turn right (downhill) and there shoot be signs coming up soon to verify you are going towards Yamadera. Again I do not recommend going by yourself.

The above photo was taken after the hiking trail and walking along the road towards Yamadera.