This was like a little Japanese Anime show made real! I ended up at this cool blacksmith’s place in Osaka where this guy was making Japanese knives and swords in the traditional manner. I almost bought one, but I wasn’t sure how I could take a sword home on the plane. Maybe I should have just gotten one and had it shipped down. Yes, that makes a lot more sense to me now.
Here’s one of the first photos I took with my Hasselblad camera when I got to Tokyo. This is kind of a weird thing to like about that machine: the aspect ratio. I mean, it’s not that big of a deal because I can always crop them any way I want. I guess there is just sort of a different feeling when looking through the viewfinder and looking at that 3:2 aspect that gives me a slightly different experience. Hard to explain.
The words below are from the YouTube description:
Dr. Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., is a professor of neuroscience, psychiatry, and behavioral science and director of the Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the author of over 400 scientific research publications and has trained more than 50 postdoctoral research fellows. He has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs.
Dr. Roland Griffiths and I discuss the research with John Hopkins University. We spoke about how he got into psychedelics and convinced ethic committees to approve such research, why he chose the scientific path, specifics about his studies with psilocybin, transformations of cancer patients with family members, the impact of psilocybin in existing institutions, the ongoing studies he is performing with long-time meditators and religious leaders, how the integration of psilocybin into society may look and more.
The best time (for me) to visit these red gates is around sunset and into the evening. It’s open all the time, but there are hardly any tourists there at night. It’s great to walk around the 1,000+ gates and find different compositions and different sorts of lights… It makes me think of all the Japanese anime shows I’ve ever seen for some reason.
Here’s a random scene from Shinjuku, one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in Tokyo. You’ll see all sorts of random things happening here. And you can’t ever go wrong with visiting a random food place, where everything is tasty… these random food guys always know when it’s right to arrive.
I can see why people in Japan like photography so much – there is always something interesting to shoot! I often wonder if because it’s such a photography-driven culture that the buildings and environs are designed to be more photographable. Know what I mean?
I took this in a relatively “seedy” area of Tokyo near Kabuchiko. It’s not really as dangerous as it used to be. Many years ago, it was pretty rough while I was there with a bunch of Nigerians who were under the control of the Yakuza, so things can go sideways at any time. Luckily, I knew about these things so I never got in any serious trouble. It’s still a bit sketch around there late at night, but it’s a lot better than it used to be.
What’s better than a personalized meal in Japan by a master chef? Not much else, as far as I can surmise. This is a photo from our tour across Japan where we visited several different locations all around the country. I think if I had to choose one country’s food for the rest of my life, it would probably be Japan. Most people think it’s just sushi, but the broad range of options is never-ending.
Okinawa, although an island by itself as part of Japan, is like a country of its own. The culture there is like a small parallel universe of Japan, which is like its own parallel universe. The country does not have much of a “beach culture” where families go out to hang out on the beach, so most of them are quite empty. In the middle of the summer, the weather is still pretty hot, but the beaches are mostly empty and ready for you to explore. Like many islands, the clouds are often multilayered and idyllic for photography.
I think this guy is hilarious…
This is one of my favorite little alleys in Tokyo, and it is very close to Shinjuku. I’ve been there a few times, but I often forget exactly where it is. Sometimes, I purposefully set out to find this place, and I get completely lost and end up in a different area. I mean, that’s okay. I guess I could mark it on Google Maps, but I like the challenge of trying to find this little treasure again.
What’s better than spending the evening in an adorable Japanese snowy town, taking photos for most of the night, then heading back to get in some natural hot springs with an Asahi? Not much, I tell ya… not much. I was happy that I decided to stay here two nights rather than rush it. I don’t like being rushed from place to place, and I love the idea of ending the day in the hot pools, laughing with random Japanese people.
