All posts filed under: Japan

Sanguwacha Festival, Henza Island, Okinawa

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Sanguwacha Festival is held each year on Henza Island, Okinawa, Japan. The traditional rituals combine the practice of cleansing in the ocean with prayers for a bountiful harvest and safe fishing. Two large paper fish are carried by teams of local school children through town and then out into the ocean. The elderly residents at the village’s day service came out to wave as the procession went past. At low tide, everyone was able to wade across through thigh deep water to the nearby island. There the local priestess gave a blessing over offerings of awamori, fruit, and containers of diced octopus. Back on the main island the women danced and sang as the giant paper fish made their way back to the village. A fantastic experience to get in amongst the action, using a wide angle lens to capture the scene. (Sony A7RIV with a 16-35mm lens)

On the road again – Fodor’s Travel Essential Japan

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Since 2010, I’ve been one of the updaters for Japan guidebooks by Fodor’s Travel. I started with just the Okinawa chapter, but now I also update chapters covering Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Western Honshu. It might seems strange to have a writer who usually lives in sunny Okinawa update the Hokkaido chapter but… I don’t have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Before I moved to Okinawa I lived for a couple of years in Hokkaido. And before I lived in Hokkaido I’d had the chance to do a fair bit of snowboarding mainly in Lake Louise (Alberta) and Red Mountain (British Columbia). International tourism is booming in Japan, and Hokkaido has become an extremely popular winter destination with great resorts and huge amounts of snow. So last week I flew up to Sapporo to check on the accommodation, restaurant and activity options for overseas visitors. I then visited the ski areas of Kiroro, Niseko, and Rusutsu before traveling to …

2023 Highlights

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2023 was a year of consolidation and preparation. Travel was limited, but the months were filled meeting fascinating people, and documenting their stories. The biggest change was Jasmine turning five. She has graduated from baby seats to booster seats, Duplo to Lego, and Paw Patrol to Bluey. My mum and dad visited in autumn, and it was great to reconnect. Yuki was amazed at just how many cups of tea we drank. 2023 saw the return of several major events in Okinawa, including the dragon boat races, competitive sports, and local festivals. I’ve met so many wonderful people from all different backgrounds. It was a pleasure to meet, photograph, and interview the Māori martial arts master Tuari Dawson. Recording him singing on the beach was unforgettable. I’ve continued my project to document the masters of Okinawan karate, shooting both indoors on the black background and on location. The Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate series has grown in popularity with hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and Instagram. Series Two has included Okinawan icons such …

Shinugu Festival, Ada Village, Kunigami

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The Shinugu Festival in the tiny hamlet of Ada, is a celebration of traditions, with hopes for good health and a good harvest. Denny Tamaki the governor of Okinawa, attended the festival for the first time. (Second person on second row, standing next to guy in the green shirt.) The lady in the picture below told me she had to wait 2 more years to be 100. Full of life, every time she referred to herself she touched her nose with her drumstick. She bossed around all the younger ladies in the group. Young ladies who were only in their 70’s or 80’s.

Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate S2#3 Yoshimasa Matsuda

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I’m very happy to announce that the full-length interview with Okinawan karate master Yoshimasa Matsuda is now available on YouTube, and also ad-free on Bujin.tv The episodes are taking longer to create than in the previous series, mainly as we are asking more questions and delving deeper into the experiences of the teachers. Matsuda Sensei used a mixture of Japanese and Uchinaguchi (the Okinawan language) in the interview so as well as being important from a karate perspective, I think the interview is also a good recording of an Okinawan switching naturally between the two languages. When you watch the episodes on YouTube please click the like button, subscribe to the channel, and make a comment about what you enjoyed most about the video. These things will all indicate to the YouTube algorithm that the video is worth sharing with others. You can learn more about the video series here: https://travel67.com/the-karate-masters-portrait-project/sensei-documentary/ I’d like to say a huge thank all those who are sponsoring and supporting this second series. SERIES TWO SPONSORS Martin Pinto – Essex …

Dragon boats are back!

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After a four-year hiatus, the dragon boats are once again racing during the Golden Week holidays. Friday afternoon had the finals of the regular races with the boats crews made up of both locals and Americans. The sky was overcast, but luckily it was not raining on the day. After these races the special dragon boat race took place, which the crews in traditional costume, along with flag bearers and karateka. I’m not sure of the names of the sensei performing with the black-robed crew, or the blue-robed crew, but the white-robed crew was led by Onaga Sensei, a karate master I’ll be photographing in the coming weeks. Checking back through my archives I found a pic from 2011 when I actually managed to get in one of the boats for a race. Can’t believe I was shooting with a medium format digital camera, in the rain, on a boat that might sink! After going further back in the archvies, I found images shot with the Pentax 67ii medium format film camera around 20 years …

Bise Village Kimono Shoot with Tomoko

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A great experience photographing Tomoko before she leaves the island next month. Bise Village in Motobu Town is famous for its fukugi trees Garcinia subelliptica which are used as windbreaks and provide shade. The idyllic tree-lined avenues are particularly photogenic and are recently the setting for a Japanese tv drama Chimudondon (ちむどんどん). Professional photography/video in Bise Village of clients in formal wear (bridal or kimono) now requires booking and a shooting fee, but it remains one of my favorite locations. Kimono styling by Yuki. Sony A7RIV with 50mm f1.2 lens. Profoto B1 strobe with softlight reflector to add a little fill.

Yoshihiro Kuniyoshi – 6th dan Uechi-ryu karate

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Yoichiro Kuniyoshi is 6th dan in Uechi-ryu karate, a student of the Uechi-ryu master Kiyohide Shinjo. Recently Yoichiro Kuniyoshi set up his own dojo in Yomitan so James and I stopped by to take some portraits of him and his younger brother Wataru Kuniyoshi (3rd dan). After shooting portraits in the dojo, we popped down to the beach where Kuniyoshi performed the kata Sanchin, as his younger brother punched, kicked, and smacked him with a piece of timber. Images shot with the Sony A7RIV with the 24-105mm lens. Strobe used was a Profoto B1 with a white softlight reflector.