Ginza 4-chome, Tokyo
Ginza 4-chome, the crossroads at the heart of Tokyo’s notoriously expensive shopping and entertainment district. I took a photograph here several years ago when I was shooting with the Pentax 67II and Vodafone was still in Japan. I returned on my latest trip to Tokyo, and met up with model Marino to create some visions of nightlife in Ginza.
Ginza 4-chome, Tokyo
Ginza 4-chome, Tokyo
USO Kadena Far East Bazaar Oct 27/28
This fall, I’ll be selling my prints of Japan at the USO Kadena Far East Bazaar and the two winter Community Carnivals. Please stop by, say hello, and maybe even get something for your wall.
USO Far East Bazaar
October 27/28
USO Community Carnival at Kinser Elementary School
November 17/18
USO Community Carnival at Zukeran Elementary School
December 8/9
Darryl The Anger Management Consultant
Darryl helps people work through their anger issues. He lets them get all of their aggression out by punching him, and then when they’re exhausted he hits them back…
Summer Johnson working her magic
Colonel Hannibal Smith attributes everything he knows about makeup, disguises, and even smoking cigars to Summer Johnson
What’s wrong with this picture….
There’s one place left for next month’s Photography Fundamentals workshop. More details on the course are here. Send me an email, or comment below, if you’d like to come join us!
iPhone 5 release Japan Ginza Apple Store 21/9/2012
The iPhone 5 had its global release while I was up in Tokyo. I headed over to the Apple store in Ginza and shot a few images of the Mac-fans as they lined up and then purchased their new phones.
iPhone 5 release Japan Ginza Apple Store 21/9/2012
There were numerous Japanese press photographers and camera crews, but I was able to get the shots I wanted and then head back to Shinjuku for my exhibition.
iPhone 5 release Japan Ginza Apple Store 21/9/2012
A couple of weeks later, someone in Okinawa asked me if I’d been working security for Lady Gaga during the summer. They showed me the following photo published in the Nikkei Weekly.
iPhone 5 release Japan Ginza Apple Store 21/9/2012 – Working security for Gaga
The Psychic
At the age of three, Airi was able to bend spoons with her mind. By the time she was five should could read the thoughts of dogs, cats, her classmates and teachers. She scored full marks on every test. Her family switched from dried pet food to an a la carte menu on the advice of Fido and Whiskers.
Model – Airi
Makeup Artist – Summer Johnson
Locals protest against basing MV-22 Osprey helicopters on Okinawa, September 9, 2012
These are a few images from a local protest against the arrival of Osprey helicopters. US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey helicopters are now based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in central Okinawa. Locals were protesting against the poor safety record of the Osprey and the close location of Futenma to residential areas.
Locals protest against basing MV-22 Osprey helicopters on Okinawa, September 9, 2012
It was one of the hottest days of the summer and the protest took place just after noon. I was actually surprised I didn’t hear of anyone suffering from heatstroke or worse. Reports from the organizers put the crowd at 100,000 people. To me this was far too high ( the number of protesters seemed smaller than the audience in front of the green stage at Fuji Rock which was about 25,000) but it was still an impressive turnout.
Locals protest against basing MV-22 Osprey helicopters on Okinawa, September 9, 2012
The Okinawan people didn’t get their wish to keep the Osprey’s out of Okinawa. The helicopters will be based here so that the US military have the latest technology to train with, but it’s a bit of a gamble for the US and Japanese government. If there is an incident involving the Osprey helicopters after so many protests, the backlash from locals will be huge.
Locals protest against basing MV-22 Osprey helicopters on Okinawa, September 9, 2012
In some ways the protests over the arrival of the Osprey seemed to distract from the larger picture of Futenma base still existing at all. It’s a bit like being angry that the guy who keeps blocking your driveway with his car has just switched from a Ford to a Chevrolet.
Locals protest against basing MV-22 Osprey helicopters on Okinawa, September 9, 2012
NTT finally came and fixed the broken phone line outside my home. The engineer said that he and about 1000 others had been sent down from mainland Japan to fix all the problems. They are clearly swamped by the scale of the job, and I wonder if it’s time for Okinawa to consider putting all those cables underground.
Typhoon Jelawat Debris
Typhoon Jelawat created far more havoc than expected. The main damage seemed to be to power cables, telephone lines, trees, and vehicles. A fisherman was killed at Zampa point, the typhoon had passed, but large waves still swept him off the rocks.
Typhoon Jelawat Debris
I was impressed by how fast the Okinawa clean up crews were able to remove debris from the roads. On Sunday afternoon there were trees strewn all over the 58 heading up through Onna Village, but by Monday morning things were clear.
Power outage in Ishikawa. (An iPhone shot in the dark!)
Typhoon season is coming to a end, but there still seem to be several typhoons loitering around. Hopefully we’ll get through the next few weeks without any more death and destruction.
Typhoon Jelawat took out the power. Three days later, when the electricity began to flow again, it instantly fried a wet plug socket.
Able to turn the power back on to the rest of the house by leaving the kitchen and office in the dark. No Internet and rotting food.
2 days later the electrician comes, checks the lines and replaces the plug socket. Power back again to the office and an empty fridge.
Computer works but no Internet. Call NTT, they say they will send someone over ASAP. Which means around mid October.
Updating blog on iPhone 
Chris Willson at his Matsuri Exhibition. Photo by Owen Kirschner
It’s Sunday morning in Tokyo and the exhibition is going great. First I need to say a huge thanks to the team that helped set up the exhibition. We were meant to set up on Monday night but due to the typhoon I arrived more than 36 hours late. Tuesday, should have been a day off for the Pentax staff, but at 10AM on Tuesday morning Pentax staff, the crew from Frame-man who mounted the prints, and the man from Horiuchi Color Ltd who produced the giant B0 prints all came to help. It was such a wonderful group effort, with everyone really excited to make this exhibition special.
A steady stream of visitors have seen the exhibit, including staff from various division of Pentax, pro photographers and several friends who were able to stop by. For all those of you who can’t make it I made a couple of 360 panoramas on my iPhone which you can check out. If you look at the links with your iPhone or iPad you can even use the gyroscope function to move around.
That’s all for now, but if you’re in Tokyo this week, please stop by and say hello.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 