This is yet another photo that I took yesterday in the early morning, at about 6am, and it is the same tree as this one here, I simply waited 20 minutes and turned around, facing the sun. The Japanese kana script ball pen calligraphy reads: あさひ (asahi), which has several meanings. One is morning sun (朝日), and another is rising sun (旭).
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This is Japan you will not see in tourist brochures, or sites promoting Japan. Council housing areas are not rare in Tokyo, especially around the the boarders of its centre. Japanese seldom own a house or apartment, and most people rent them. The fee for renting a place in Tokyo can be very high, going up way over 1000$ for 1LDK. 1LDK stands for one living room apartment with a dining area and kitchen. In short, it is one room with toilet. Council apartments, on the other hand, are very cheap. They can go as low as 100$ per month, but one has to apply for them, which is not that easy. The downfall of council houses is that they often look a bit rough, and you may bump into some ayashii ningen (suspicious looking people). Still, some of those houses can have nice views. Believe it or not, I shot this photo from the same place as the one you see in this article. It is amazing what perspective does to a photograph, isn't it.
Hanami (花見, lit "flower viewing") in Tokyo is over, and sakura begins to fall. It is the last call for sakura photography, so I decided to take a few more shots before it is all gone. I took this picture literally behind my house in a small park, at 5:30 in the morning. The sun was already rising, yet the street lamps were still on. A few minutes later, the lights disappeared, just like the cherry blossom will in a few days.
Sakura is a symbol and reminder of transiency and all things in life that come and go. It nature teaches us to enjoy our every day as much as we can, and do not regret anything, but instead learn from it, so we can bloom again. I was unable to go outside Tokyo this year to photograph sakura in places where there are no people, but I plan to do this next year. Still, I wanted to isolate the cheery flowers from the the surroundings, to make them appear more intimate and delicate, as if they were dwelling within their own dreamy world. This is one of my favourite photos of sakura that I took this year.
Another night scene from the same place where I went yesterday, only shot from the other side of the highway junction (you can see the same tower blocks on both photos). This view is towards central Tokyo, if you look closely, you can see a blue tip of Tokyo Tower popping out between the third and fourth tower blocks, counting from the left. It was yet another smashing sunset, unfortunately all the amazing clouds were gone in the evening.
I pass this place every time I go to central Tokyo, and finally I found time to go there to look for some cool photo hot spots. I was planning to shoot the Tokyo Harbour and possibly this highway intersection, but from the opposite side. Well, what do you know, I was on my way to a place I found on the fantastic application for photographers, called Stuck on Earth, which was developed by a great landscape photographer, Trey Ratcliff, when I saw a building with outer staircase leading to the roof. Most of you probably do not know this, but almost all buildings in Tokyo are locked, and entrances to the roof or even stairs are closed. So, finding an open staircase with a good view from its top level, is like winning a lotto.
Technique: HDR photo made of 4 exposure, blended in HDR efex pro, and then manually masked with single exposures in photoshop. Budokan (武道館), lit. martial arts stadium, is one of the Tokyo landmarks and popular tourist attractions. It was build for the Olympic Games judo competition in 1964, and now serves as a martial arts arena, but also as a concert hall. Last week, when I was shooting this photo, there was a concert of some Japanese pop star. Do not ask me which one, I prefer to die in ignorance. Martial Arts Hall, which is its official English name, is located across the street from the Yasukuni shrine (靖国神社), and very near the Imperial Palace of Tokyo. To be quite honest, I have not yet been inside the Budokan, which is something that I will have to change anytime soon.
It is said that when you arrive at Tokyo for the first time, and want to really lose your way, you should head to Tokyo station, and venture inside the endless tunnels connecting various points of interest. The tunnel system is massive, and some of the passages are so long that you can walk underground to other stations, such as Ginza, Yurakucho, and so on, which are 2 kilometres away. Aside passages and simple tunnels, such as the one shown on the photo, you can find there hundreds of stores, restaurants and what not. A day may not be enough to discover all the secrets hidden below the Tokyo station, but it will definitely be worth your time.
There are many ways in which the Tokyans enjoy the sakura season. Some of them go out and spend a day on a blue plastic mat (everyone has the same one), spread underneath the blooming cheery trees, surrounded by 7 million of others who do the exact same. Others go outside the city, which is a far better idea, but requires some effort. And finally, some jump into boat in the Chidorigafuchi (千鳥ヶ淵), a deep moat located near the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo. Fun as it may sound, again, just like those poor squashed in sakura lovers sipping sake on an over-crowded grass, the rowing boat enthusiasts spend 95% of the time watching out for other boats to avoid the collision, and the other 5% they play with their cellphones, to make sure that they still know how to use them. The reality of Tokyo - can't beat it.
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Ponte Ryuurui (品天龍涙)
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