Excerpts from Japan
To those who shared their joy with me, thank you for making my trip ever memorable
皆さんへ、様々を話しがくれて、ありがとうございました！楽しいの思い出を大切します。
At Team Lab Kyoto (2026)
After three years of yearning for another escape to solace and the desire need to use up my expiring film stash, I decided to embark on another trip to Japan. This year’s expedition was aimed to appreciate the moments in cities between Osaka and Kanazawa. Osaka would be my main shopping (materialistic) hub, simultaneously acting as a pit stop for Nara (for the deer) and Nagoya (for Studio Ghibli); Fukui for a night (for the historical sites); and Kanazawa, my favourite city for respite and rejuvenation.
There were a few hindrances before the trip commenced, the main one being a battling of cancelled tickets (thank you politics), and the other was the indecisiveness of which camera to take (cue eye-roll). Eventually, my companions were comprised of three cameras: the first film camera I purchased in Hong Kong that kept my loneliness at bay, and a digital one purchased recently after almost a decade of hiatus from the electronic medium. There was also an unexpected third companion – a keyring toy camera gifted to me for my birthday, which felt quite criminal if I didn’t bring it with me. Either way, my two weeks of enjoyment morphed into two weeks of having fun with photography while chasing light.
Arriving in Japan mid-March meant I was greeted with scenes of early blooms of peach, apricot and camellias. Sitting on a park bench by the river with a fried chicken and milk tea, I can’t help but think of my favourite Chinese New Year Greeting ‘Fa Hoi Fu Gwei 花開富貴” where flower blooms, fortune and honour flourishes. It was a good way to enter my thirties.
As it has been three years since I have conversed in Japanese daily – there was a small weight of embarrassment when I had to re-familiarise myself with the language (and dialect). However, getting over the shame and attempt to converse with others made each encounter memorable and rewarding. Some of my favourites include meeting Natsumi in a café, a fellow journaler who opened a new world of journaling for me as we shared our enthusiasm for our favourite travel journal; an informative conversation about a Summer Villa from Matsuda who has lovingly cared for the gardens of Kanazawa established a magnificent start to the morning as I took a detour while visiting the art galleries.
Given that I still have my architecture studio’s travel itinerary stashed in my phone – it would seem obvious that I would be chasing a lot of architectural scenes. I did – in fact, re-visited my favourite galleries in Kanazawa: Yoshio Taniguchi’s D.T. Suzuki Museum (Suzuki Daisetsu Museum); SANAA’s Kanazawa’s 21st Century Museum (for the love of Leandro Erlich’s The Ordinary & James Turrell’s Blue Planet Sky). I walked around Nara’s evolution of tourist spots; and appreciated the stage set of Kiki’s Mother’s home at Ghibli Park; congregated at the Plum Blossom Grove with other keen photographers at Kenrokuen. Although not intentional, my travel itinerary is what Miyazaki would describe as ‘ma’ (空): a quiet commute on a bus from one city to another (although I got off at the wrong stop and so opted to walk instead) gave me the space to sketch; a baseball game to experience the culture that is so richly engrained in slice of life comics; dinners with old friends who recount their lives that are often missed in our screens; watching the musical adaptation of ‘Skip and Loafer’ with tears of relief spilling at the opening because I understood majority of the dialogue.
Around the same time as I started planning my trip, serendipitously, a camera shop that I have been following online (Yasui Camera) announced private tours available around Osaka and Kyoto. The curiosity led me to a friendship with Momoyo – which made the eventual meeting in person extraordinary for the days we met. The first day involved walking around a quieter part of Osaka I never dared to visit. Along with a family friend Yuuta, I had the privilege to hold the blade of a Katana, listening to the Monk’s philosophies and his dedication in preserving of one of the oldest temples in Japan. The second time was a film camera photo walk to the lush part of Kyoto, walking to Muko’s Bamboo grove. There, I learned about the variations of bamboo colours that I would’ve missed if I were in Arashiyama. The therapeutic click of my camera shutter and winding of the film leaver gave me two rolls of film to learn to develop at a film lab with Momoyo’s father Akira, an opportunity opened my eyes on the world of professional film developing. To leave the store with smiles and memories – as well as having a warm conversation with my friend’s mother as she drove me to the train station, the generosity and kindness that was gifted to me has become a cherished memory of the trip.
Earlier this year, I wrote in my reflections that I was hoping for a bit of romance – and while it never manifested, I’ve found love etched into scenes that cemented itself as a soft glow in my memory. I witnessed the love of a mother and her children as they interacted with a gallery’s infrastructure; I saw the excitement in a couple as they did their best to capture each other under the blossoms; I marveled at the strength and care of a son who carried his father up the stairs of the temple while his mother and brother hoisted the wheelchair. The variations of love that surrounds me is quite profound, and ones that I think will stay with me the longest despite not having it cemented on film.
With that said, the two weeks was probably one that will stay with me the longest. Not because it was Japan, but probably because of the conversations I had and the contentment of solitude that makes the trip all the worthwhile.
And probably because it has been a while since I’ve been away without a level of sadness and worry in tow.
Related works: 2025: When your career become walls of your vision; The Variations Of A Blur - A Year It Has Been
Places mentioned:
Osaka
Kyoto
Kanazawa
D.T. Suzuki Museum
Kanazawa 21st Century Musem
Kenrokuen
Fukui
Eiheiji Temple
All photos posted on this trip are documented on Nikon Zf. (Except for the Bamboo Grove - that was captured on Canon AE-1 Programme with Lomography 400)
This entry is written on the lands of the Wurundjeri Country while the rain danced on the Colorbond.