During winter 2020 we made a trip to Japan with some friends as a "graduation trip" since that year we were going to graduate from university. I decided to film during the trip and make a video. This project was my first "travel video" and I used it to test some transition effects as well as getting into sound design. This was my first project where I used sound design.
Our first stop was Tokyo, we were at the city for a week and had an amazing time strolling through its narrow streets full of small restaurants while some salary men were having a beer at an izakaya.
After an stressful week living on a tiny apartment and rushing to get to every place we listed, it was turn to move to a more peaceful area of Japan: Takayama, a city located in Gifu Prefecture. We spent just 3 days in this amazing town (which have village vibes) but we had an amazing time, tried incredible food, and even visited a small village called Hida-Furukawa, which Makoto Shinkai got inspiration for a lot of locations in his film "Your Name".
With our batteries charged, we moved to another major city: Kyoto. This city has an ancient ambient to it. Lots of old and small wood houses near the city center, lots of old temples and shrines and a certain magic to it. Here we had 7 more calm days and visited the most iconic areas of this beautiful city.
Those three places were where we stayed, but from each place, we made some excursions to more locations. From Tokyo we first went to Nikko, a city located at 2 hours from Tokyo by train and known for its magnificient temples and shrines at the outskirts of the city. We fell in love with this place. We were almost alone there, visiting temples in the middle of the mountain without hearing a single voice, just the nature. Could say, this was our favourite day of the whole trip. Just magical.
A few days later we went to Hakone, another small town located an hour and a half from Tokyo by train. After visiting the town itself, we got on a bus and took a 45 minutes ride to the top of the mountain, where there is a lake with a Torii in the water. At the top we found everything covered in snow, and for me was one of the most beautiful and magical views I saw during the trip.
Finally, the last one was Nara, where we went from Kyoto. This city is known for having a huge Budha statue inside a temple and for its natural park full of deers. Not the most beautiful spot we visited, but had a great time strolling through it and eating a great curry.
And that's all, all the footage of the video and the pictures you've seen were took on my Panasonic GH5 with a small 19mm f2.8 from Sigma. I could say this is the most incredible trip I've ever made, and having friends with me during the trip was the most important reason.
