All posts filed under: Japan

Operation Tomodachi

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Operation Tomodachi is the relief effort of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. Over the last couple of days planes and helicopters have been leaving bases in Okinawa and heading north. Some will be flying to Naval Base Atsugi, near Tokyo while others will probably head to Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture . (Tomodachi is the Japanese word for friend) I will continue to post updates on my blog and the Chris Willson Photography Facebook page, but if you have family members in the US armed forces you can also get the latest information about the Marines in Japan at the III Marine Expeditionary Force Facebook page. Some have asked if I intend to head up to the disaster area to photograph the events taking place. Logistically it would be almost impossible to get there from Okinawa by myself. It would be different if I could be embedded with part of the military or civilian humanitarian effort, but these are contacts that are difficult to make if you’re a lone photographer unaffiliated to a major news …

The Day After

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It’s been an strange day. Spent a lot of time switching between BBC World and CNN on the TV and various news sites on the web.  I saw the images coming in from photographers and journalist friends based in Tokyo, many of whom are now heading north to Sendai. I wish all the best to those who are going out to cover the disaster. Stay safe. The above photograph by my friend Damon Coulter shows a scene from Tokyo just after the quake. It is not an image of chaos or carnage, but a man putting his training into action. Japan is well aware it lies in an earthquake zone, and the precautions taken with regards to building design, planning and training mean things are much better than they could have been. I put up yesterday’s post with images of the tsunami’s effect on Okinawa hoping that it would be of interest to a few of my blog readers. The tsunami clearly didn’t have a large impact on Okinawa. The ocean appeared to go from …

Shuri Castle at Night

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Shuri Castle in Naha is still undergoing renovation. It looks like they are in the second of three stages, concentrating on the roof line and the golden dragons that sit at either end of the apex. You can just spot the scaffolding in the above photo. Here’s a crop from the  image at 100%. It’s nice to see they paint the scaffolding red, quite thoughtful really as the castle still gets many visitors while the reconstruction is going on.

Inked

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The Canon ipf5100 printer I use for creating my limited edition prints is fantastic. It uses the highest quality archival pigment inks, it takes rolls of paper rather than sheets allowing me to use the  thick cotton photo rag I love, and it produces images with great detail and wonderful color. It is, however, the size of a small piano and costs around 2000 dollars. As anyone with a exotic sports car will tell you,  the high initial cost is not the only concern, the running costs are just as significant an issue. The ipf series printers have two print heads and 12 ink cartridges. Print heads cost around 400 dollars each, and probably will last you several years. Ink cartridges are around 70 dollars each and their longevity will depend on a combination of how often you print and how often the printer needs to run the cleaning mode. If you are an occasional printer, this is going to make running the machine very expensive. Every time you turn on the printer it will …

Namba in the Sunshine

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Shops in Japan often have cute animals enticing you to come and eat them. You don’t have to be a vegetarian to think it’s odd that you have cartoon cows munching down on a juicy steak. This stall was selling takoyaki (fried octopus balls). It looks like the cartoon octopus is whistling as he shuffles off to one side and makes his escape. Donkihote is a famous store in Namba named after Don Quixote / Don Quijote. Not sure why it got the name. The inside of the store was surprisingly unimpressive. Cramped and filled with stuff I didn’t want. (Yodobashi Camera or Bic Camera on the other hand…) Not sure what they do in Namba Hips. Best guess is that it is the international headquarters of the Shakira Fan Club.

Namba at Night

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Met up with American model Rachael while in Osaka to try and get some images of a person visiting the city, rather than shots of the locals. Namba really comes alive at night so the plan was to use the neon lights as a background and then illuminate the model with off camera flash. It turns out that the male hosts of Dotomburi were fascinated with what we were doing, so they ended up in the shoot too. And finally a shot of Flickr friend Jan Moren who assisted me on the shoot by holding the off camera flash.

Kiku-san and the carrot

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Kiku-san is 92 years old. She has a small garden next to her house where she tends her vegetables. She grows lettuces, radishes, garlic and carrots. There are a few important things to note from this simple series of images with regards to longevity. The first is that Kiku-san grows and eats a large range of vegetables. The second is that she is gardening and exercising even though it’s mid February. Third, she is smiling. So there you are, three keys to a long life. Eat your veggies, exercise, smile. Enjoy the rest of your lives 🙂