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Kabukicho – Tokyo’s Red Light District

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A small area of Tokyo, just east of Shinjuku Station is called Kabukicho. It was named after a Kabuki theater that was never built, but it is now famous and infamous, as Japan’s red light district. Packed with restaurants, bars, karaoke boxes, love hotels, and clubs filled with bouffant hosts and hostesses it is a gaudy temple to commercialism, hedonism and vice. It is also the location of the only Toyoko Inn budget hotel in Shinjuku so I tend to stay there when in the city. This was also a good chance for me to test out using the new K3 camera at higher ISOs (Changing the sensitivity of the sensor to light). I shot numerous images at ISO 1600 and found that the pics, after with a little noise reduction in Lightroom, are clean and sharp enough for me to use professionally. The K3 body with a pancake lens is also compact enough to fit in the pocket of my jacket so you can be reasonably discreet. Very pleased with this last shot. It …

New Year in Japan

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There are many New Year traditions in Japan. The most significant is perhaps a visit to the local shinto shrine. Preparations at the shrine start days if not weeks before the event. At Meiji Shrine in central Tokyo, bottles of soy sauce and salt were on display ready to be blessed. Various priests were preparing the grounds of the temple. The rope around the tree trunk is called a shimenawa and indicates that the tree is sacred. Visitors to the temple were getting a head start on writing their hopes and dreams on the wooden ema prayer boards. This is a smart thing to do if you want to avoid the tens of thousands who will visit on New Year’s Day. Houses are decorated with shogatsukazari (New Year’s wreaths) these can be bought at department stores or even on the street. Here’s one on a traditional house in Arashiyama, Kyoto. For many the highlight of the New Year is the chance to get a bargain in a fukubukuro lucky bag. A 5,000 Yen bag is likely …

Laser Eye Surgery in Japan

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This is a compilation of blog posts about my experience getting laser eye surgery in Japan. Short Version: I used glasses and contact lenses for 20 years. In 2013, I decided to get Laser Eye Surgery. I had iDesign iLASIK at the Kobe Kanagawa Clinic in Shinjuku, Tokyo.  Procedure went great. I now have excellent vision, better than 20/20. Hoorah. In 2020 the Kobe Kanagawa Clinic changed ownership and the clinic is now focused on other procedures. Richard, who helped me now works at the Shinagawa LASIK center which is a great option for English speakers in Japan. Shinagawa LASIK Center Richard set me up with a referral system for the Shinkawa LASIK Center  so readers of my blog can get up to 50,000 yen off.  Just message me and I’ll send you a referral discount coupon. Long Version: I got my first pair of glasses when I was about 13. At age 16, I started wearing contact lenses, and glasses became a last resort. For the next 20 years I used contact lenses pretty much …

Pentax K3 Studio Test Shoot – Tomoko

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The lovely Tomoko was my third model for my test shoot with the new Pentax K3. I wanted to create a more classical portrait, that would show the balance between light and dark, but still retain detail in the shadows. Model – Tomoko MUA – Summer Johnson Pentax K3 Pentax smc DA* 55mm 1:1.4 SDM Lighting – Charcoal background. Beauty dish powered by Profoto Pro-7a as the main light. Small softbox as low fill. Medium size strip softboxes on both sides adding rimlight (powered by Profoto compacts). A fifth compact aimed at the background. Strobes triggered with PocketWizards