Photos by Dlee

I’m happy to finally be able to share some images from my trip to Japan!

When I got back I had just over 1200 images which filled up TWO 32GB cards and half of a 64GB card. I haven’t shot this much in a very long time, so I think it goes to show how much I enjoyed myself!

Now onto the photos.

Day One – Just Arrived

We arrived to Tokyo early in the morning so had a full day ahead of us which was good.

We tried to check into our hotel but it was way too early so sadly we couldn’t. We went to a local 7-Eleven to get some breakfast snacks then decided to head off to Shibuya so my wife could get her hair done and I could get my new lens.

I had every single lens on me so it made it a bit tricky to take photos with all the extra weight on my back. I tried bringing a carry on around with me to roll the gear around which did help prevent my back from hurting, but was still quite troublesome.

Despite that, I did take a few images casually as I walked around the streets. As soon as I dropped my wife off I went back to Shinjuku to go buy my lens which you can see in the images further down the page. I tried going to a few stores, first Yodobashi and then Map Camera.

The best part about Japanese camera stores is they have everything on display for you to hold and try. This made buying the lens a much easier decision once I held the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 and could see/feel how light it was.

If you do find yourself going to Japan (Tokyo to be exact), you’ll find Map Camera in Shinjuku have the best prices which can be even better if you show your foreign passport as you save 10% due to not having to pay tax.

Below are a collection of images from the first day with a bit more about it further down.

After buying my lens and my wife’s hair appointment being done, we went to a Hedgehog cafe in Harajuku. This was one of the things I was quite excited for but I didn’t enjoy it that much.

I believe it was around $60AUD for 2 people and the Hedgehogs just want to sleep the whole time and depending on which ones you get, they may not like being held too much. There was a Meerkat there too which I did get a photo of but he seemed very distressed and unhappy so I didn’t really try for anymore.

After this we went for dinner then off to Shibuya sky for the photos you can see above. It was actually freezing up there but we stayed until atfer dark in order to get a printed photo my wife wanted. The view was really nice and one of these images will be added to my slider on the home page.

That was it for day one. We were pretty exhausted by this point so we retreated back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Day 2 – Disneyland and Exploring

We decided we’d visit one theme park only while in Japan. My wife really likes Disneyland so we chose to dedicate one day to that.

It was quite cold while we were there, and we don’t go on too many rides so we figured Land would be better than Sea. There was an average size crowd there which was good as we were visiting just before school holiday’s started. I did take quite a few images in there as well but I feel Disneyland photos often look the same so I didn’t bother editing too many.

Below are some of these photos with the rest of the image descriptions to follow.

After that we headed back to Shinjuku for dinner (images with description below). After eating, we walked around Shinjuku and did some shopping which is where I took the majority of the images you see above.

It’s quite crazy how bright it is at night in Tokyo, you can easily shoot at low ISO’s without any issue. I love the busyness and bright lights but there is one thing that surprises me.

A lot of the stores close quite early, around 8 to 8:30pm which I was quite surprised by. I remember when visiting Hong Kong, a lot of places were still open until 10pm or later but Covid may have affected this.

Otherwise it was a fun first few days in Tokyo with plenty more to come.

A Special Mention

This was easily my favorite meal when I was in Japan and I ate it roughly 7 times over the 15 days I was in Japan. The restaurants is called Gyukatsu Motomaru which has locations all over Japan.

If you do find yourself in Japan I highly recommend giving this place a try if you eat beef. For the price it can’t be beat and if we had it here in Sydney, I’d be eating it weekly if not more.

More Up Next

This is the first of many parts with a lot more images to come.

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