All posts filed under: Japan

Noguchi-gera / Pryer’s Woodpecker / Sapheopipo noguchii

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Up early again today. Jumped in the car and met up with birder Ichiro Kikuta to check out another family of Pryer’s Woodpeckers. It was misty and rainy, but the hole in the tree was low to the ground and close to the road. I set up the tripod in the back of the car and shot from cover out through the open window. (Jack Reacher would have approved.) Every few minutes the female, or the more flamboyant red-capped male, would return to the nest with a beak full of insects.  Ichiro said that the chicks were almost ready to fly as the parents didn’t even have to go inside to feed them. Pentax 645D with SMC PENTAX-FA★645 300mm F4ED[IF] and 1.4x Rear Converter

Ie Island, Okinawa

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Took a 30 minute ferry ride from Motobu across to Ie Island. I’d never been to the island previously, which is amazing considering I’ve lived on Okinawa for over a decade. It also looks to have some great shore diving. Ie is famous for beef, togan, and brown sugar, but surprisingly the main crop on the island was tobacco. Ie island was heavily bombed during the Battle of Okinawa. The local population hid in caves to try and survive the typhoon of steel. In one cave called Niya-Thiya, around a 1000 locals waited out the battle. US war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed on Ie Island on April 18th 1945. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944, and covered the war in Europe, Africa and the Pacific. The main event on Ie Island is the Lily Festival that takes place from the end of April to the beginning of May. There are fields of white lilies, and also several rows of the more colorful varieties of Lily.

No Osprey Protest – Torii Base, Okinawa

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Another No Osprey protest took place last week outside of Torii Army Base. It was much smaller than the event I’d previously photographed near the Ginowan Convention Center. On Friday, there were around 100 protestors (and a couple of bulls), and it only lasted for around 30 minutes. There were several short speeches by leaders of the group about not wanting Osprey helicopters and military bases on Okinawa. Then as a group they faced the gate and shouted their demands. They chanted in Japanese that they didn’t want the helicopters, they didn’t want bases, and they didn’t want military on Okinawa. Then after a brief pause, the chant became “Yankee go home, Yankee go home, Yankee go home.” This was the last thing shouted, and then the protest ended and the gathering broke up. The presence of military bases in Okinawa is a contentious and complicated issue. The Okinawans have every right to voice their opinions and try to effect change on the political situation. However, to end a demonstration repeatedly chanting “Yankee go home,” …

Ryukyu Mike

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  While out shooting Rie in the flower field I bumped into Ryukyu Mike for the first time. He’s a long term resident of Okinawa, and he loves to document the local flora and fauna. Check out Mike’s blog over at Ryukyulife.com  .  Hopefully Mike and I will meet up more often, and go out shooting. He’s a friendly guy, who clearly has good taste in cameras 😉  Any similarity to Albus Dumbledore or Gandalf is purely coincidental.  

Kiyoshi Yogi – Uechiryu Karate & Ryukyu Kobudou

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Kiyoshi Yogi is a master of Uechiryu Karate & Ryukyu Kobudou. He was the sai world champion, the bou world champion, and the first Okinawa traditional karatedo world champion. Yogi sensei was the 17th master to be photographed as part of the Karate Masters Portrait Project. We stared on March 11th 2012 so we’ve being underway for a year. Over the past 12 months it has become clear just how important the project is. There has been praise and encouragement from all over the world, although the best feedback is usually the beaming smiles from the masters as we hand over the prints for their dojos. Hopefully over the next year we’ll photograph even more of these Okinawan icons. I’ll continue to take the portraits, James will continue to organize the shoots, and the karate masters will continue to share their knowledge with the world.

Business Portrait – Hisano Pankiewicz

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Hisano Pankiewicz makes traditional Okinawan sweets. It’s been the family business for over a century. They have a small store in Naha called Jahana Kippan, which can also be found online at OkinawaSweets.com Her husband James is the owner of The Dojo Bar in Naha. Hisano needed a new portrait that can be used when promoting the company and introducing herself as a young Japanese businesswoman. We decided to keep the look of the shot simple and natural. Hisano was delighted with the image, and a happy client means a happy photographer. Hisano also gave me some coconut covered tougatsuke, as a thank you. Very happy photographer.

Pentax K5 IIs Exhibition

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Starting February 13 in Tokyo, Pentax is having an exhibition of images shot with the new K5IIs camera. 15 photographers are involved and I was lucky enough to be asked to be one of them. Pentax selected a couple of my recent studio images, one of Alexis, and one of Sachi. I’ve spent a month working with both the 645D and the K5IIs side by side so I have similar images from both cameras. From February 13th to 25th the exhibition will be at Ring Cube in Ginza, Tokyo. This is the Ricoh / Pentax Gallery that overlooks one of Tokyo’s most famous intersections. From March 6th to 11th the exhibition will be shown at the Pentax Forum in West Shinjuku. Thanks to Pentax for selecting the images, to Alexis and Sachi for modeling, and Felicia Lee and Summer Johnson for hair and makeup.