Tanisawa.se

Category: Blog

  • Kinchakuda

    Kinchakuda

    Today was a day spent at Kinchakuda near the city of Koma in the Saitama prefecture. A beautiful area just one hour by train from central Tokyo, where you really can relax and get that “out of the city” feeling. So if you want to escape the noise of Tokyo for a moment (without going too far away), head for Kinchakuda.

    There was a lot of people having picnic in the fields.

    This Japanese was “Living the dream”. Even though it was in a smaller scale, it still was a living, breathing steam engine locomotive!

    Heading off into the wild.

    Notice, his actually reading a analog book. Not like everyone else here in Japan, reading books on the phone.

    – Can I please take this home?

    When Japanese people do something, they always go all in to make the most out of it. In this case having a picnic out on the shore means, bring chairs, tables (one of the tables was actually a real indoor wooden table), a lot to eat, a lot to drink, mark a good spot and cover it with blankets. Also make sure that you do NOT spread you things outside of the covered area, except your shoes of course…

    /Thomas Tanisawa

  • Streets of Tokyo

    Streets of Tokyo

    Some images taken from our visit to Tokyo during the easter 2012.

    To tired to walk?

    I just love how house owners in central Tokyo decorates the street outside to make it look nice for everybody passing by.

    The first leafs of the season lets the sun pass nearly without giving any shade at all to the ground bellow.

    It looked like this girl didn´t pass the latest school test. She surly wasn’t allowed to stand together with her friends…

    This is the feeling of being a parent. You constantly find yourself chasing your kids who without any hesitation rushes in to the future.

    I guess no one crosses his road without being watched!

    /Thomas Tanisawa

  • Sakura blossom in Tokyo 2012

    Sakura blossom in Tokyo 2012

    So this is what everybody talks about. Cherry blossom in Tokyo is magical. The tiny pink and white cherry flower completely fills the sky and in some areas the rows of trees just keeps on and on. All I can say is -Wow!

    For regular tourists that visits Tokyo for a week or two, must have a big portion of luck to be able to see the cherry blossom in its full glory. The blossoming only last for a week in Tokyo and that week varies from year to year depending on the weather and temperature, adding to that is the fact that you often book flight tickets month ahead makes it not that easy… Luckily the season for cherry blossom in Japan is quite long so if you are prepared for some travel time to see the blossom you shouldn’t miss it.

    As soon as the cherry blossom starts Tokyo prepares itself for an intense party time. In every park or street that has cherry trees the area under the trees is covered by people celebrating the return of the cherry blossoming. Notice that in this picture a group of people have reserved an area and has marked the spot by placing three boxes with beer… I can just imagine what would happen here in Stockholm if I in a public park full of people, left tree boxes filled with beer all by them self… Anyway, this is Japan and apparently this is how they do it!

    This guy has made a business out of selling grilled fish to bypasses.

    Some of the streets had special lighting in place during the cherry blossom so you could walk around under the trees during the evening. Very spectacular to see and it felt like you took part of a really special event in Japan.

    And then a couple of day after it has started, it went from spectacular and new to just ordinary and daily for most Japanese.

    And then a week later all the flowers fell off like snow and piled up on the street bellow. So now Tokyo has 51 weeks left until the next Cherry blossom 2013 starts!

    /Thomas Tanisawa

     

  • Subway shoot in Tokyo

    Subway shoot in Tokyo

     

    Subway in Tokyo. Must be both frustrating and frightening before you figure out how everything works in the subway. Once you figure out what to look for, how to plan your trips and how to purchase tickets its actually quite simple.

    1: Buy a Suica or Passmo travel card. It’s like a refill card with credits for the subway (and a lot of other things as well).

     

    2: Fill the card with travel money. This can be done in refill machines at every subway station  (Yes, there is a button marked “English”!)

    3: Just go!

     

    Prepare to stand on every train…

    Ok, when traveling the biggest problem could be to find the right track. Some stations are VERY large and there can be a lot of walking if you don’t know where to go. There are maps on every station so use them!

    Two students who ate a quick lunch at the station, curry, rice and white shirts…

    This is quite unusual… an empty station.

     

  • Kappabashi Dougu Street

    Kappabashi Dougu Street

    Kappabashi Dougu Street is located between Ueno and Asakusa and is the number one place in Tokyo if you want to find anything related to food, except food. There is around 170 shops that sell porcelain, chopsticks, kitchen appliances and a lot of plastic fake food to be displayed at restaurants. It is definitely worth a visit!

    In the background Tokyo Sky tree is reaching up 634 meters into the sky.

    Why are there so many to choose from! How can I possible choose the right one when I want one of each…

    It just goes on and on.

    /Thomas Tanisawa

     

  • Meiji Shrine

    Meiji Shrine

    Meiji Shrine (明治神宮 Meiji Jingū), located in Shibuya, Tokyo, is the Shinto shrine that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. This pictures was taken during our visit in Tokyo July 2011 and the weather was sunny, hot (+30C) and the humidity in the air made it hard to take pictures without getting every piece of the equipment soaked…

    This is the entrance to the temple area and the gates were gigantic!

    The path leading to the actual temple is fantastic. You are in the middle of Tokyo but it feels if you was hiking in the jungle, except from the road of course… The vegetation on each side of the road is so dense and air is completely different than outside in the city. The light was so sharp under the trees and the contrast in strength between the treetops and the ground made it almost hard to see. It was too dark for sunglasses but once you look upwards it was too bright not wearing them.

    Two sisters strolling along.

    One of the mikos working at the shire.

    These are small wooden boards that you could write down what ever pray or with that you wanted to come true.

    Loved this one and especially the part with the cat.

    It doesn’t  matter how calm and peacefully the surroundings are, there is always time to hurry somewhere…

    /Thomas Tanisawa

     

  • Spring finally arrives to Sweden

    Spring finally arrives to Sweden

    And so at last it arrives to the southern part of Sweden. All the snow has finally gone and I´m looking forward to a warm and long summer.

    The ground is covered with the flower Anemone nemorosa that has the nickname Vitsippa. I looked it up on the web and in other countries the name Wood anemone, Windflower, Thimbleweed and Smell fox is used.

    Smell fox, who uses that name on a flower like this?

    The cat doesn’t look that happy.

    The water is still cold as ice but just looking at this picture makes me feel the warm sand.

    Looks like the old landing pier got carried away by the ice and storms during the winter.

    /Thomas Tanisawa

     

  • Paragliding at ales stenar

    Paragliding at ales stenar

    Paragliding by the southern cost of Sweden.

    This is something I always wanted to try but never had the chance to do it, paragliding. It looks so calm and peaceful, just floating around in mid air with the birds.

    These shoots were taken at Ale stenar at the southern part of Sweden. The terrain there is perfect for paragliders that want to take off from land and then just float on the airstream pushed upwards by the cliff sloping down towards the sea.

    The air rushes in from the sea and when it hits the cliff wall it raises and creates the perfect up wind that the paragliders could hang on to and glide through the sky for hours.

    Alone in the sky.

    The perfect human seagull.

    /Thomas Tanisawa