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The big Japan photo slam

Japan is one of those countries that, if you're ever, ever presented with the chance to go to, there's absolutely no excuse not to take it. Beautiful scenery; mad, obsessive culture in nearly every regard; and an amazing shot on every corner. It's the photographer's dream - especially if you're like me and like to stockpile photos for Instagram posts, while you spend the rest of the year sat waiting for work to come in and binging Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Earlier this year a good friend of mine found himself spending a few months out in the suburbs of Tokyo teaching English to college kids, so I instantly demanded a space on the floor of his dingy studio flat to spend a bit of time out in my favourite country.




An instant hit for me was the city of Kamakura - a coastal city about an hour away from Tokyo on the train, where the agenda is surfing, coffee houses, pokey bars and bamboo forests. After a few days of Tokyo's lights frying your brain, it's a welcome relief to head out to somewhere with a slower pace of life (so long as you can avoid the colonies of hawks overhead. There were warning signs and all.) Kamakura is also the home of Japan's Patagonia headquarters, and to anyone who knows my fashion choices, well...




Another spot that's laid in prime site on my Japan hit list has been Hakone. The region is essentially one big fat national park, made up of dormant volcanoes*, interconnected by cable cars, ferries and buses, and nestled in the shadow of an ominous Mt Fuji.**

Highlights of Hakone - one big open air museum, pirate ships, fulfilment of my Japanese Coca-Cola truck fascination, and a very cheery ice cream lady.


*The volcanoes were dormant until the week of my trip - when they started spewing out a teeny bit of lava and understandably shut down the cable cars.

** The apparently ominous Mt Fuji decided to stay tucked behind some clouds this day.



Back in Tokyo, and straight to Asakusa to loiter about with a camera in-hand. Asakusa is the district of 'old Tokyo', centred around the temples and pagodas of Sensoji, and lies in total counterpoint to the uber-modernity of much of the rest of the city. Once you've broken through the crowds and the inevitable rain of a Japanese summer, it becomes a real festival of colour and old-guard architechture.

Fun fact - Asakusa is where I found myself in a late night karaoke bar on my first trip to Japan, ending up with me stood outside a 7/11 at 5am being blamed for the atrocities of the Second World War by an elderly local. Apparently the excuse of "I'm Welsh, not American" didn't make it through the language barrier.



Japan is a country of fascinations, and I've always been fascinated by Japanese car culture, but one thing that is seen all over Japan and I can't get enough of is the taxi. An old Toyota that hasn't changed design since the 50s; sharply-suited, white-gloved drivers; and electric doors to save you the hassle of opening them yourself. It's something so commonplace and mundane, yet fascinating all the same, and makes for a great subject matter.




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