In February 2020, we had a great photo tour to Hokkaido with photographers from Spain. Due to the pandemics, we could not make a trip in 2021, but hopefully we could start 2022 with Hokkaido Photo Tour. Here is the video made with the images from the Hokkaido Photo Tour 2020.
This year we have chosen central Japan to capture the beauty of Sakura. We have focused on Kyoto and The Inland Sea of Japan, best known as Setouchi.
We started the tour in the ancient city of Kyoto, where we spent a couple of very intense days. Our base in the city was the Granvia Hotel, located right in the same Kyoto Station. The Granvia is a great meeting point for the arrival day and is also perfect as a departure point when we move to Setouchi. Plus the hotel’s view and the station itself are already very interesting photo spots due to the beauty of its architecture designed by the architect Hiroshi Hara.
Kyoto is a very popular and crowded city nowadays, especially in the cherry blossom season, so in order to avoid the crowds of tourists, we woke up both days very early to be ones of the first visitors to arrive at the bamboo forest as well as to Fushimi Inari sanctuary, two of the most popular spots in Kyoto.
Other beautiful locations we stopped by and captured were Tofukuji zen temple, Philosopher’s path, Nanzen Ji, Maruyama Park, Pontocho or Gion, among other spots. During the first couple of days some of the cherry blossom were at their full bloom and others were a bit early, but we mostly enjoyed the scenery.
On the third day of the tour we took the shinkansen (bullet train), to Okayama and from there another train to Takamatsu, a very lively city in the coast of Shikoku that became our hub for a few days. In Takamatsu we also visited and photographed the stunning Ritsurin Koen, one of our favorite Japanese gardens in the country!
Takamatsu is probably the most convenient place to visit the islands of Setouchi, since there are ferries to almost all the islands with daily services. Our goal for the following days was to visit Megijima and Ogijima, two tinny islands where life moves on at a very slow speed. These two islands as well as Naoshima, where we went the following day, participate actively in the Setouchi Art Festival, a triennial that take place every three years in the area.
The beauty of the Inland Sea mixed with the contemporary art displayed either in museums, villages, old houses or the beach itself makes this festival a very special one. Rural Japan and art combine perfectly to the point that you are not sure what is art and what is just reality. Photo opportunities appear at every corner!
On the way back from the island we even had time to enjoy hanami (picnic under cherry blossom trees in a park, a very popular Japanese tradition among families and friends) and take pictures of the park and the sakura during the blue hour, when the dark blue of the sky matches perfectly with the pinky color of the flowers in full bloom.
From Takamatsu we headed to the rural areas of Shikoku to experience a ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel). We had a delicious kaiseki dinner and we could enjoy the outdoor bath surrounded by bamboo trees. Spending a couple of nights in a ryokan is a must in Japan, and of course it is something we always include in all our tours.
In the heart of Shikoku we visited a very famous cherry blossom spot for the locals, a park on top of a mountain, full of cherry blossom trees melted with the view of Setouchi with its tinny islands … a breathtaking moment, for sure. It was right here where we came across with the TV crew of the Japanese national TV station, NHK, who actually interviewed on of the participants of Akashi Travel photo tour! Here we attach the picture!
Other attractions of this year’s tour included the Oboke & Koboke canyons, where we took a boat and also photographed the koinobori, carp streamers, flying over the river, the castle of Matsuyama city and the Shiranami Highway.
The tour ended in the city of Onomichi, where we spent the last night in the famous U2 Cycle hotel, located by the sea, in an old warehouse transformed into a fashion hotel with only a few rooms. It was a nice experience that all participants enjoyed a lot.
Last morning, we went up the hill with a cable car to photograph a panoramic view of the city of Onomichi, the last shots of the cherry blossom and all the temples on the way back to the sea. Onomichi was the final stop and a very unique one, due to its amazing location and to the few tourists that stop to visit the town on the way to Hiroshima.
This is always the main goal of Akashi Travel Photo Tours, to take you to places were most visitors never think of stopping at. We are here to introduce our participants to rural, charming and amazing hidden spots in Japan!
In the past month of April, our photo tour to Tohoku, “Cherry Blossom & Hot Springs 2018” took place. We organized a photo tour for a small group of 6 participants from different countries: Spain, Israel and The United States, and different ages from 29 to 82 years old! We are very happy to say that the tour was very successful in spite of the multiple languages and age difference. We believe all participants had a great time!
The six participants from the Cherry blossom & Hot spring photo tour organized by Akashi Travel. Spring 2018. ©Akashi Photos
Our main goal was to photograph cherry blossom trees in different locations throughout the northern part of Japan, a region known as Tohoku. We basically started from Yamagata city and from there we drove all the way up to Aomori, the northernmost prefecture in the main island of Japan, during the 9 days of the photo tour. Here is a small photo-diary of our adventure!!
DAY 1 ~ ZAO
Israel, one of the participants, getting a close up of the huge cherry blossom tree with the typical Japanese transparent umbrella! ©Akashi Photos
Tina, Akashi Travel’s tour leader and umbrella holder, assists the participants to the tour in every sense! 🙂 ©Marc Cases
Even if the weather were against us, we believe that it is always possible to take advantage of the situation. No matter what, there is always a way to take interesting photographs. And often, pictures come out more interesting than perfect postcard picture weather. And this was the case. Without rain nor fog we wouldn’t have got this nostalgic cherry blossom picture!
In spite of the light rain and thick fog, we still managed to take beautiful pictures of cherry blossom trees up in a hill, on the way to Zao. Probably, without the fog we would have missed this nostalgic and romantic look of the picture! ©Akashi Photos
Once in Zao we walked around the small village with its little hot spring wooden houses here and there, and all the steam coming from pipes everywhere. At dusk, with the rain and the fog, pictures turned out mysterious, as if it were a movie set! In our tours we always try to take pictures of the amazing blue hour at least once or twice!
Blue hour at its best time, orange street lights and a man walking by, what else could you ask for? ©Akashi Photos
After shooting under the rain we got our retreat. This is the wooden hot spring of our ryokan in Zao! Hinoki bath and blue water! Relaxing time after a long day! ©Akashi Photos
DAY 2 ~ YAMADERA
The next day we visited Yamadera temple, an amazing Buddhist temple located on a hill. The stone path of more than 1.000 steps that leads to the top is as beautiful as the amazing view of the valley that you can enjoy from the top. This place is definitely a must in Yamagata prefecture!
Cherry blossom petals start covering the ground at the very bottom of Yamadera temple drawing a beautiful pinky natural carpet! ©Akashi Photos
Along the 1.000 steps that lead to Yamadera temple we can find many small sculptures of Buddha and jizos (children and traveler’s protectors). The long path is as interesting as the view from the top. ©Akashi Photos
Sakura in a small river on the way to Naruko from Yamadera. ©Akashi Photos
DAY 3 ~ KAKUNODATE
Another hot spot for cherry blossom viewing is the samurai town of Kakunodate. Along the river there is a long row of huge cherry blossom trees, a perfect scenery to practice our skills with landscape and nature photography.
Cherry blossom trees in Kakunodate. ©Akashi Photos
Marc capturing a low point of view of sakura flowers with his smart phone. Any type of camera is good to capture the beauty of cherry blossom trees! Some of the participants had big DSRL cameras while others used their smart phone as the only tool to photograph throughout the whole tour! ©Akashi Photos
Cherry blossom at Kakunodate. ©Akashi Photos
After our visit to Kakunodate we headed towards our third ryokan, lost in a deep valley in the mountains. Even though the hotel wasn’t far away from Kakunodate town, while we drove up to Nyuto Onsen Village, and as we were approaching to our final destination, snow started appearing beside the road.
This is the aerial view of our “fairy tale” ryokan with thatched roof old buildings at dusk, all surrounded by snow. We were provided with boots and ski poles to go down! This was a big surprise for everyone, even us! ©Akashi Photos
DAY 4 ~ LAKE TAZAWA
The Lake Tazawa is a caldera lake and the deepest lake in Japan at 423 meters. We stopped there to photograph the transparent crystal water and Shinto shrine on the lake.
Gozanoishi Shrine on the Lake Tazawa. ©Akashi Photos
On the way to the next ryokan we made different stops to photograph cherry blossom and the beauty of the Japanese landscape here and there. One of the best things of our tours is that whenever we find anything worth shooting, we can just stop the mini van and take the picture.
Here all participants photographing the landscape! ©Akashi Photos
This is Jose on the road, always willing to reach the next stop, and specially the next restaurant, since he really enjoys Japanese cuisine! ©Akashi Photos
There are many aspects that make our photo tours to Japan special, but definitely one of them is food. Japan is probably one of the best countries in the world to enjoy raw fish as well as wild vegetables cooked in a million different ways. And it is not only about the food or how it is cooked, but also how it is displayed to the guests. It is art in Japan. So, we take food very seriously!
Kaiseki dinner in one of our carefully selected ryokans for this spring tour. The beauty of the dishes is just … breathtaking! ©Akashi Photos
DAY 5 ~ HIROSAKI
Next day was the climax of cherry blossom photo session! Hirosaki castle and park are one of the most famous spots all over Japan to view and photograph cherry blossom trees. This year we were lucky enough to get there at the best time of the whole two weeks that this natural phenomenon takes place! Outside the castle sakura petals were already falling, covering the inner moat of the castle with a pink carpet. Inside, sakura were at its full bloom!
Hanaikada, flower rafts of cherry blossom, in the inner moat of Hirosaki Castle. ©Akashi Photos
Hanaikada, flower rafts of cherry blossom, in the inner moat of Hirosaki Castle. ©Akashi Photos
Here we have two of the participants enjoying the park at its own peace. Hannah taking a rest while Israel couldn’t stop photographing everything around him! ©Akashi Photos
Cherry blossom lighten up in Hirosaki Castle with full moon. ©Akashi Photos
Cherry Blossom along the inner moat of the Hirosaki Castle are lighten up and people enjoy Hanami on the boats. ©Akashi Photos
The whole team (except for Marc who took this picture) after the night photo shooting! ©Marc Cases
DAY 6 ~ Mt. HAKKODA
After such an intense day full of Sakura, cherry blossom, we headed towards Hakkoda mountain, still covered with snow. We decided to go back to shoot nature, rivers and naked trees. Take a look at the following pictures, taken the next day, and not too far from the city! Japan is just amazing, you can enjoy “hanami” (cherry blossom viewing) at the same time that you can go skiing, all within 50km!
Israel, the most energetic photographer in our group, in action! ©Akashi Photos
Group photo!!!! ©Akashi Photos
Rose and Israel, the two most passionate photographers of the tour, taking advantage of every little moment to take pictures, even from the van! ©Akashi Photos
Wonderful swamp near Mt. Hakkoda. ©Akashi Photos
Reflection of trees in a swamp near Mt. Hakkoda. ©Akashi Photos
DAY 7 ~ TOWADA CITY & OIRASE RIVER
After so much nature we dedicated a couple of hour to culture, stopping by Towada city to visit Towada Art Center. This museum has the peculiarity of allowing visitors to take pictures in most of its gallery space, which turned out to be a lot of fun.
Group picture time!! ©Akashi Photos
Modern art installation in front of Towada Art Center ©Akashi Photos
Park by Yayoi Kusama in fron of Towada Art Center. ©Akashi Photos
Oirase river was our next destination, again a must for nature lovers and photographers in general. In the river we practiced slow shutter speed photography with filters to capture the flowing water.
Eric and Hannah capturing the river flow in Orirase ©Akashi Photos
After Oirase River, we arrive at a ryokan lost in the valley without electricity. But nothing impede us from taking pictures!!
Hannah taking picture in Yukata. ©Akashi Photos
When the sun goes down, the only light this ryokan has are oil lanterns and the moon … a very special experience!!
Dinner under the oil lanterns in our ryokan. ©Akashi Photos
Hot spring bath in our ryokan, all made with wood ©Akashi Photos
DAY 8 ~ Mt. OSORE
Finally, we arrived at our final destination, Osorezan, Mt. Osore, one of the three most spiritual mountains in Japan. We find this place so special, peaceful and somehow out of the world.
A statue of Buddha in the desolate landscape of Mt. Osore. ©Akashi Photos
Eric taking pictures in the lake at Osorezan ©Akashi Photos
Night shot of the main entrance to Osorezan, one of the most spiritual and mystical places in Japan. ©Akashi Photos
To make our last night really special, we actually slept in the temple, had vegetarian dinner like the Buddhist monks and woke up at 6:00am for prayer. It took a long time to reach to this isolated temple, but it was definitely worth it!!
Vegeterian dinner at the temple, in Osoresan. ©Akashi Travel
This is a little summary about our photo tour to Tohoku this past spring. If you want to have such an experience just sign up for next year’s tour!!!
