Japan 2023
Im a little late on this one, one year has passed since I went to Japan, a crazy one at that.
I have to think a little harder to be able to write something, not too hard doh, we are talking about Tokyo.
It was one of my dream destiny’s for as far as I can remember, i follow so many amazing photographers from Japan.
I was just in shock when I got the confirmation i was going.
A mix of happiness and terror at the same time because i was going for only five days.
how can you document such an amazing place in that kind of time?
The strategy i used was limit my sleeping hours to a minimum, it was hard but totally worth it.
I went with 3 friends and caught up with a forth one there, he was our salvation for this crazy trip,
big thank you @chriscost.a, go follow his work on instagram, amazing dude.
So Chris goes back and forth from Portugal and Japan a lot, so he is very familiar with the place, the best guide!
We had a plan, well sort of, walk as much as possible to see as much as possible.
We where staying in an area called Roppongi, very cool place, with a lot of bars and stuff to do.
Left the hotel towards the tower of Tokyo, i would describe it as a smaller, red version of the Eiffel Tower.
After half an hour of walking we arrived, took some candid shots along the way.
My first impression is that the streets of Tokyo are seriously organised, nothing is left purely by chance, a lot of colours.
The sun was out so we had the weather on our side.
My favourite shot of the day is the bike rider with the sign ART & ANTIQUES, just love how he is framed inside the closed metal blinders, how the sun is hitting the scene, with the taxi ruching to get in the shot.
We started the second day with a visit to one of Japan's largest integrated property developments, Roppongi Hills, the view from up there is amazing, you can even see Mount Fuji.
Next stop was the most popular street crossing in Japan, the famous Shibuya crossing, its just amazing to see the amount of people crossing at the same time, they say 2 million people pass by there every day.
As a street photographer, this place is paradise, people everywhere, going by there business not caring about the weirdos with cameras trying to take pictures of them, it was like we were invisible, even when I used my flash at night, and when people did care, they just smiled and posed, for sure one of my favourite places to shoot, we ended up coming here a lot.
My favourite shot from Shibuya is the one with motion blur, girl with a hat, mask and with a white sweater, black jacket, i think it gives out a good Shibuya crossing vibe.
To wrap-up the trip, we visited Asakusa kannon temple, a touristic place, but it was a very cool place to end the trip, a lot of people dressed in traditional kimonos, got some portraits, everyone was very nice, some said no because they were too shy, the ones that said yes went all in, i felt the proud feeiling they had by wearing those cloths.
My favourite shot from the temple is the blond guy with the black kimono, in front of the soda machine, its a cool mix between the old and the new Japan.
Could not ask for more, loved the hole trip and everyone we met, hope I get to go back some day.
Thank you Tokyo.
‘‘The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.’’
— Robert Doisneau