- Some photos I pulled together to show a friend when they asked to use some of my photos as part of a display for Japanese tourism at a conference overseas. And for my sister and her son, who will be coming to Japan soon to visit my wife and I.
These photos are from the last few years I've lived in Japan. I picked ones that a "regular tourist" coming to Japan for the first time would want to see; i.e food, places, shopping, traditional culture, etc. . Many of the photos in nature I took on the small island of Shodoshima in the Seto Inland Sea, which is near Shikoku, one of the four main islands of Japan. I lived on that island for some months before moving to the Tokyo/Yokohama area. 
Shodoshima
Shodoshima
Shodoshima
Shodoshima
Temple on the top of a mountain on Shodoshima
View of the village from that temple
- Shodoshima is famous for somen, which is a type of noodle eaten with a cold broth. Very refreshing in the summer, especially since Shodoshima gets so hot and humid in the summer.
My wife meditating on a mountain top cliff edge at sunset on Shodoshima.
The interior of one of the many buddhist temples on Shodoshima. Shodoshima surprisingly has an 88 temple pilgramage on the island just like the more famous one on the neighboring, and much larger, island of Shikoku. But visiting all those temples, from ocean-side ones, to mountain-top ones on Shodoshima is a much more peaceful experience since you are usually alone at most of the temples you go to.
A young couple wearing the traditional summer yukata (cotton kimono) on their way to a festival.
Shop in Kyoto selling all forms of pots and pans. The red lanterns turn a normally dreary type of shop into a festive one.
It is nice to see that young people (well mostly the girls) still like wearing the traditional yukata to festivals. This one was a summer festival in Takamatsu on the island of Shikoku
This was my favorite festival on the island of Shodoshima. At the waters edge, with the mountains looming up in the background and the moon poking out, people launched small wooden ships with candles on them representing relatives who had passed away. It was so beaitiful to watch the ships sail out into the ocean. They show up as lines of light in this long exposure.
My wife's hand showing us one of the beautiful shells she found on a beach in Shodoshima.
Yakiniku is a popular disk in Japan. It is thinly sliced beef and begetables that you grill on a charcoal grill and dip into a soy sauce-based sauce to eat. Many places use natural bamboo charcoal which gives the meat a wonderful smoky taste.
They call this "Angel Road" on the island of SHodoshima. The path connecting these small islands disappears when the tide is high.
This was taken at the fish market in Sapporo, the main city of the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido. The crabs here, especially the tarabagani (kind crab) are out of this world. We actually had this set of seafood shipped to our home, so that we could enjoy it after getting back from our vacation. It includes a variety of crabs, a jar of ikura (salmon roe) and uni (sea urchin).
Langoustine grilled over charcoal
Pickled vegetable store in Kyoto. In Japan, it is not just cucumbers that get turned into pickles. All kinds of vegetables are picked. Probably pickled Chinese radish is the most common.
A shop in Kyoto that sells shoes with the split toe that is usually reserved for socks in Japan called tabi. This idea of taking a traditional Japanese clothing form and adapting it into something new is very creative. As you can see, they are also using traditional patterns and materials in the shoes.
A group of maiko (mailko are the junior version of geiko [which you know as "Geisha"]) in Kyoto.
Here we can see the beautiful materials incorporated in the maiko's kimonos from the back.
Traditional shopping street in Kyoto.
Traditional sembei (rice cracker) store in Kyoto.
The famous Kiyomizudera in Kyoto.
Togetsukyo bridge in Kyoto.
Natural spring in Beppu. They boil eggs in the hot spring, called onsen tamago, which are delicious. The sulfur in the water gives the eggs a nice flavor.
Lotus flower in Beppu. If you have seen my artwork, you know that I love lotus flowers. They are so magestic.
Another natural hot spring in Beppu. This time a muddy color because of the minerals coming out with the water, as compared to the last hot spring shot above which was a beautiful blue, also because of the minerals coming out.
Collection of bamboo items in a shop in town of Yufuin.
An ashiyu (foot hot spring) in the town of Yufuin, on the island of Kyushu
This is another tourist attraction in the town of Beppu. They bury you in sand that is heated by the natural hot spring water pumped into it. It is supposed to remove a lot of toxins in your body through the skin. Let me tell you, you get pretty hot pretty soon after being buried in there, but it was an interesting experience. And what you cannot see from this shot is that you are next to the ocean and so have a nice view while you lay there of the ocean and the surrounding seaside.
We just happened upon this ceremony in Beppu as we came to use one of the hot spring huts they rent here (no photo of that in this collection yet, sorry.) These men in white outfits (signifying purity) are carrying a Shinto God around on the palanquin past the hotel so that it could receive the God's blessings.
The giant Torii (gate to a Shinto Shrine) in the water just the island of Miyajima where the famous Itsukushima Shrine is located. It is in the Hiroshima area.
Pagoda which is part of the Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima.
Toyokawa Inari Jinja in the Aoyama 1-chome area of Tokyo. This shrine is very close to where I've been working. I love to hang out there during lunch breaks to pray and get myself back into a peaceful frame of mind after hectic morning.
Takoyaki (octopus dumpling) can be found at stands at almost all Japanese festivals.
Bonsai; so beautiful despite all the human manipulation to make it seem natural.
Families out enjoying the sakura (cherry blossoms) beside the river. Actually, in Japan, they often plant cherry trees all up and down both banks of rivers so that come April when they blossom, it is a fantastic sight to see blossoms flowing down the river banks as far as the eye can see.
A close up of some of the cherry blossoms. In this collection, I have not included many of my signature "arty farty" flower closeups, but couldn't resist throwing in one.
This might not look as appetizing to most Westerners, but most Japanese looking at this photo would have their mouth watering at this plate of Oden.
Here is a wider shot where you can see the variety of food that they can serve you at an Oden restaurant.
I have to admit, I love traditional places in Japanese cities and in nature, but since this is for tourists in general, I'll through in a couple of more "metropolitan" shots. This is the outside restaurant part of the Tokyo Midtown complex. As you can see, they have nice gardens surrounding it. It has pretty much (but not quite) overshadowed the nearby Roppongi Hills shopping/office complex nearby.
The Daibutsu (Great Buddha) statue in Kamakura. I love Kamakura. The town is full of temples and gardens everywhere you go.
Toshogu Shrine in Nikko.
A plate of delicious soba and tempura
- hahaha, sorry. I totally forgot where I took this photo. I think it was in the Nikko area.
- Traditional ceremony in the city of Yonezawa where they carry a "pincess" around in a kago or pallequin.
I think this was also in the Nikko area, where groups of tourists take the scenic route by boat down the river.
dango (Jpaanese rice dumpling) roasting next to the sumi (bamboo charcoal)
Traditional Japanese room at a center for traditional culture on Shodoshima
Back to the modern world here with the busy intersection near Shibuya station in Tokyo.
In Japan, restaurants often have plastic displays of what food they serve in show windows in front of the restaurant. There is actually a street in Tokyo (Kappa Dori) where there are many stores that sell nothing but plastic food of every kind imaginable. Many of the plastic models are eerily real.
A delicious selection of sushi. Tokyo's fish market, Tsukiji, exports anything you can imagine from the sea to countries all over the world. But of couse it takes best as fresh (unlike where I grew up in the middle of America where most of the exotic seafood has been frozen at least once)
Kaminarimon gate of Sensoji temple in the Asakusa area of Tokyo. Asalusa has the highest percentage of traditional stuff left in Tokyo. I highly recommend visiting that area if you are ever in Tokyo.
The various designs and patterns of Japanese kimono material is amazing.
"Trinket Alley" (my own nickname for this lane going to one of the temple building complexes in Sensoji temple in Asakusa
Hozomon gate in Sensoji temple
Used goods shop featuring a lot of cool traditional Japanese stuff in the Asakusa area of Tokyo.
A newlywed couple (with escort) being wheeled down the road in a jinrikusha (we know them as just rikusha) in the Asakusa area.
Shop on Kappa Dori selling various kinds of traditional Japanese lacquered bowls, tray, and dishes.
- Now I'm starting to repeat myself. Another platter of sushi. Mmmmmm, sushi. Worth a second look. (Can you tell it is almost dinner time now where I am (in time), lol
Traditional theater in the Asakusa area.
Another shot of Hozomon gate in Sensoji temple. I think the atmosphere is much better at night with the laterns glowing.
Pagoda near the Hozomon gate in Sensoji temple. Looks like a spaceship ready to blast off for heaven, lol
- Oooh. Back to peaceful Shodoshima (lol, which means "small bean island"). It really was a beautiful place to live.
- View from a mountain top on Shodoshima in the late afternoon. The air was so fresh.
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