Tag: Japan

Yanaka cemetery

Yanaka Cemetery

Just outside Ueno subway station you will find the Yanaka cemetery. I have already published a photo from here but I thought that the place deserves some more photos since it is so beautiful.

The cemetery itself takes up around 100000m2 and has over 7000 graves so it is quite big so if you want to see it all, it takes a day or two… The cemetery is mostly famous for the main road in the middle that has large cherry trees on both sides that completely cover the sky and ground in white and pink flower if you time the season right.

This is the temple area that is located in the beginning of the cemetery, if you arrive here by the subway. On this photo it looks quite empty, believe me it was not. Hundreds of people walking around or sitting down reading or just relaxing everywhere… except when I took this photo. I somehow manage to capture a photo with no one in it.

Yellow leaves covered the ground and gave everything a warm golden shine. Just perfect for this place!

A small guardian was sitting in the sun just looking at all the people wandering by.
I only spent an hour or so at the cemetery but if I have had more time I would have bought a lunch box and parked myself at a bench.

Perhaps next time I´ll bring more company then just my Leica.

/Thomas Tanisawa

January 22, 2014
The lake by Ueno zoo

Spending the day with the camera near the small lake by Ueno Zoo

So this is how December starts in Tokyo. Coming from Sweden it feels like a small taste of spring 2014. Before this trip to Japan I have googled what the weather would be like so I knew that it would be +15 Celsius, but I still got a little bit surprised by the warm weather. Thin jacket and t-shirt was quite enough. Equipped with the Leica M9 and the 50mm I head out in the sun. These photos are taken around the small lake near Ueno Zoo. It´s a nice place to get some green touch on your visit to Tokyo.

If you can sit by yourself for a minute and not packed on the subway you better take that chance. So make sure that it is at least 5 meter of free space on both sides when finding the perfect spot by the walk path.

This part of the lake is usually covered with large green leaves and beautiful pink lotus flowers. At this time of the season its hard to imagine how perfect this will be in just a couple of months.

“Not another photographer, lets take of boys!”

Relaxing to the right. Looking for food to the left.

Just trying to get by.

Just trying to get high score.

/Thomas Tanisawa

January 6, 2014
Looking ahead

Looking ahead through the lens of my Leica

Apparently I have a thing for taking photos looking like the ones bellow. Symmetrical with a fixed point or direction towards the horizon. I have never thought of it before and I do not intentionally go out and look for this type of motive. But I have tons of pictures looking like this so I apparently like the angle and the symmetrical element.

These photos are takes with my Leica M9 and 50 summicron.

In this the line towards the horizon is broken up but one could with ease imagine where all the lines would end up.

Like in this one. Shadows, forms, colors and the lines.

In a perfect world I would have waited 0,3 sec so he and his shadow would line up a little more even…

The national museum of modern art in Tokyo has a perfectly designed entrance, and on top of that some really cool exhibits!

Check it out

On the narrow streets underneath the subway lines going from Akihabara there are a countless number of shops and restaurants.

Even this small fish market in Sapporo I managed to capture a frame looking like this. Thins to the left that lines up with thing to he right…

And in this shopping mall, the same photo again.

Ok, this one deviates a little bit from the norm but its quite similar.

On my way to Yanaka. I was told that It should represent the “old” Tokyo. How it looked 50 years ago. I make a post later with some more photos, but I was a little bit disappointed. I do not now if I was told wrong or if I just had the wrong image in my mined of how it should look…

This is taken from Sapporo Tower. Again the same lineup, apart from the high point.

Yanaka cemetery. Beautiful place. Quiet, calm and millions of miles away from Tokyo’s neon and noise. Great escape only a couple of stations away from it all (and this perfect lineup!)

Now when I have noticed that I usually take these type of motive I need to figure out how to take better ones, or how to change my direction…

/Thomas Tanisawa

January 4, 2014
Tokyo metro

Spending some time in the subway net

Subway in Tokyo. Almost 9 million commuters every day… The central nerve that is divided between two companies, Tokyo Metro and JR-Line. Luckily you can use the same tickets on both line, but you need to “check in” when changing form one to the other. This is easy done just by swiping your ticket, but if you somehow miss it you will have to explain to a Japanese speaking ticket officer. This can obviously be a challenge if you don´t speak Japanese…

Photos takes with Leica M9 and 50 summicron, the perfect travel companion.

Warning signed everywhere and marking on the ground showing where the doors of respective subway car will be. Everyone stands in line after the markings and they all look funny at you when you stand somewhere else when waiting for the train.

Someone has done an excellent job polishing the floor…

Micronap. Don´t know if it is to be alone for a minute or if they are really tied, but most of them looks like they fall asleep…

They all stand in line at the markings, everyone.

DJ.Taro on the taking the sub.

/Thomas Tanisawa

January 1, 2014
Wedding in Japan

Invited to a wedding in Japan

Ok, time for some photos from one of my cousins wedding in Japan. It was my first “Japanese style” wedding so I was quite excited to experience it and as a bonus, meet all my relatives that lives half a globe away.

Just to set the scene for the wedding. It was arrange in a mixed Europe/Japanese style. Everything was arranged by a wedding-coordinator. Music, foot, location, the whole lot!

It was strange and very funny. Sometimes it felt like being in a Disney movie with background music, candle lights, silky fabric and so on. Of course being in Japan, there was a TV-crew covering the event. Filming and taking pictures of everyone and everything and when the party was coming to the end they showed a short movie on a large projector screen with the highlights from the wedding.

Anyway, the result was a very special wedding and I thank the bride and groom for being invited!

Photos takes with Leica M9 and 28 summicron.

Taking the first steps as married couple!

Grooms father was tied after a long photoshoot… Luckily not mine. Closest family was lined up in the photo studio for a wedding photo. One photographer and two assistants arrange everything from position of hands, head tilt to make sure that the cloths was correct. Nothing was left out so it took quite a while…

Wall of fame, almost. This is the names of all the couple that has been wed at this hotel. Everyone got a small golden plate that was put up on the wall. There were thousands of plates…

Outside the waiting rooms there was i AED-machine for emergency. I guess that if someone made a last minute change of mined, it would come in handy. AED is a automated external defibrillator… to be used is someone got a fibrillating heart problem. Hopefully they have never used it…

Bride, groom and their parents lined up before the wedding party. Red carpet and gold background.

During the wedding party the bride any grooms parens gave the fist bite of the wedding cake to the married couple. The groom, my cousin, couldn’t resist making it a little bit funny!

At the end of the party the bride and groom wend to every table and light a large candle. Since it was quite a lot of tables it took quite a long time…

And yes, they changed clothes in the middle of the party.

All I want to say is thanks for being invited to your wedding!

/Thomas Tanisawa

December 31, 2013
Night in the city

The night falls over the city

Here are some pictures taken during my latest visit to Tokyo. The city really comes to life during the night and it sometimes feel like there is more people moving around during the night compared to the day. It probably are since everyone is rushing home from work or to the nearest pub for an after work beer.

Leica M9 and 50 summicron is used.

The crossing in Shibuya, crowded as always.

Outside every shop there is someone shouting out the latest offer or trying to convince you that “this is Tokyos best restaurant”.

Tjukiji fish market at night, quiet and calm and a completely different place than during the busy morning and day rush hours.

This is actually taken in Sapporo. We took a flight from Tokyo to Sapporo to visit some old relatives. Everyone rushed by this guy sitting with his phone. A couple of seconds as shutter speed captured him and the rushing feets!

Sapporo is clearly a smaller town than Tokyo but everything is there to create the feeling of a big city, just in a smaller version. Sapporo however has almost 2 million citizen so it isn´t that small…

Steamed dumplings!

There where quite a lot of these small dumplings places here in Sapporo. I didn´t see any of them in Tokyo. Probably just missed it in Tokyo.

You got to love the narrow streets. Since it is in Japan it feels completely safe to wonder around in these small streets. Lot of lights, sounds and smells make a perfect combination that really takes you to another place and almost another time!

/Thomas Tanisawa

December 30, 2013
Asakusa

One of my favorite places in Tokyo

I know that I already posted photos from Asakusa but I like it too much not to post more photos from here! So if you are traveling to Tokyo, even for just a short visit, this is a place you do not want to miss!

Photos are takes with Leica M9 and 50 summicron.

Previous post from Asakusa

I wounded how many pictures that has been taken on this street. Everyone, including me is stopping to take a photo or two…

My brother (white shoes in the center) did also stop for a minute to take the mandatory “Asakusa temple photo”.

The smoke has, according to the legend a purifying effect so why skip the chance?

It is even said that if you wave some smoke on your head it makes you extra clever. So just to be on the safe side I stood beside it for quite a while…

If you took away all Iphones and digital cameras it felt like little has changed since they build this temple.

/Thomas Tanisawa

December 30, 2013
Tokyo Skytree

A trip to the new Tokyo Skytree

During my latest visit to Tokyo one of the stops was the Tokyo Skytree. A 634 meter high tower that makes everything around look quite small. Anyway, the weather was nice with clear bus sky so it was a perfect day for the Skytree. Equipped with the Leica M9 and my brother, I headed out on the streets of Tokyo.

Me and my patient brother. Thanks for waiting every time I stop to take pictures… Luckily I blend in quite well with all the other Japanese citizens that also stops and takes pictures, ALL THE TIME.

The head office of Asahi beer. Quite spectacular building with Tokyo Skytree in the background.

This is the first thing that you see when the elevator doors open at the 350 meter floor. Large glass windows all around the tower and a view that in some way makes you feel like being in an airplane going in for landing.

Everyone gathered around the glass floor… Hopefully the engineers behind the tower has calculated for the weight…

Looking down the glass floor… 350 meter to the street bellow…

This is from the 450 meter floor. From this level it didn´t feel that high. It was almost too high and the contact with the ground disappeared. This photo is taken in the northeast direction and away from Tokyo center. Still there are building as far as you could see and from up here the size of Tokyo felt really impressive!

This is taken in the opposite direction, more towards the center of Tokyo. You could see Tokyo tower (the red/white peak) in the background stretching to the sky, but only half the high of Tokyo Skytree, 333 meter.

The night is falling over Asakusa. The look and feel of Tokyo changes and thousands of streetlights, flashing neon signs and the sound form the city makes it feel almost like being in a movie, not in the real world.

The visit to Tokyo Skytree went as always in Tokyo, without trouble. There was an enormous queue but since this is Japan, everyone is standing in line waiting for their turn. We didn’t buy any ticket in advance and our total time spent in queue was 30 minutes.

If you want to visit Tokyo Skytree look at this site for more information.

/Thomas Tanisawa

December 30, 2013
Asakusa

A trip to Asakusa

Asakusa located in the northern part of Tokyo is well worth a visit. You can walk there for hours just to absorb the atmosphere, the sounds and the smell of everything from city pavement to newly baked cakes filled with vanilla custard. Asakusa was once mostly famous for being the number one entertainment district in Tokyo but now days it is the Buddhist temple Sensō-ji that stands for the main attraction (and of course the market that surrounds the temple area).

This is the main entrance to the market in Asakusa.

Tiny shops are cramped together on each side of the streets. Here you can find everything from kimonos, candy, swords to more ordinary “welcome to Tokyo” souvenirs.

Not everything that looked like “sweets” where sweet. Let´s just take it as a learning lesson in Japanese traditional sweets.

This huge bronze burner with incense stands near the entrance of the temple. The smoke says to be holy so everybody embraces them self with it in hope of good fortune and happiness. And no, there is no connection to the smoke, the burner or the temple to the German Nazi party. The Swastika has been around as a symbol long before the German party used it after the First World War.

Light a candle and make a wish.

Or just make a wish (but don´t forget to offer a coin as well).

Looking out from the main temple you can see the bronze burner in the middle of the courtyard and to the left there is a well where you should wash your hands and mouth before entering the temple.

/Thomas Tanisawa

July 6, 2012
Hitting the streets of Tokyo II

Here is another round of shoots that I took in Tokyo during vacation. The funny thing about Tokyo is that it is so many different things going on everywhere. There is always a new shopping mall that’s about to open, always some park that is hosting an event of some kind, always something to see. So if you like to take pictures there is always something going on somewhere, you just have to find it.

The strange thing about this man wasn’t the man himself, it was that everybody was trying their hardest not to look at him…

What is the best way to get you message out to the crowd? Shout?

You were not allowed to park you bicycle on this particular location.

An aquarium full of Fugi. The fish contains a deadly poison that shuts down you neural system. There is today no known cure for those who have the unfortunate of eating a peace containing the poison.

I wonder if the fish actually is that good, or if it´s because of the thrill… guess there is only one way to find out.

Chillin!

In one of the many street corners in Tokyo there was a small angel watching.

Outside almost every hotel or shopping mall there were stands for wet umbrellas. Place you umbrella in a slot and lock with the key. Signed by /The management

In making an effort to make the gray streets a little bit greener!

Chillin!

/Thomas Tanisawa

April 19, 2012