This post will detail some of my journey to Japan in June of 2025. I was going to write it as a daily blog but think that it will suit a three part post better with one post for each city I visited in the Land Of The Rising Sun. This is a journal of a holiday with the main purpose of photographing around the amazing place. I’m a huge fan of Cyberpunk aesthetic with Bladerunner being one of my fave movies, and one of my fave photographers being Liam Wong, check his work out if you have a minute or two. These blog entries will mainly feature photos of the journey with one or two of my favourites thrown in too. There will be another post at the end with my favourite images from the journey.
If you want the Google Map featuring all of the relevant points in the post below find it here:
https://earth.google.com/earth/d/1ZQNP6-ugTyRoBndVXk-NwHDIOwKLPhZ1?usp=sharing
SHR-BHX
Like all good travel stories it begins with the first steps of a journey, in my case it was a short train ride from Shrewsbury to Birmingham International, one that I’d booked super early as the Cosford Air Show was happening on the same day.
BHX – CDG
Got to Birmingham International at 11am and the flight wasn’t until 18:40 hours so I bought a book from the WH Smith and sat in the pub with a Guinness Zero. The book was “Tokyo Express” by Seichō Matsumoto and it would see me through the rest of the journey to Japan.
After waiting in the airport for half a day I boarded my flight destined for Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG), all was going smoothly. I wasn’t hopeful as my bag failed to arrive in Japan at the same time as me last year. The flight didn’t take off until 19:20 a full 40 mins late, I was worried about this as I should have landed in Paris at 21:00 with an hour to get to the gate to the connecting flight to Haneda (HND) due to leave at 22:00. The air steward advised me that there would be plenty of time.
When I disembarked from the plane and rushed to the security scanners they made me empty every single lens and camera, phone, computer out of my bags into four trays for the x-ray scanner. I packed everything away once through the scanners and made my way to the gate, only to find it was shut, no way onto the plane. Unless you were the couple right in front of me who were allowed onboard. Hmm. I was livid, angry and most of all disappointed that I would miss the start of my getaway. The gate staff said that the seats had been sold to others as they knew my flight from BHX was going to be late landing. FURIOUS does not describe it nearly enough.
A food voucher and a hotel ticket for the grotty little airport Ibis was obtained next and a new boarding pass for the next morning at 09:30 for CDG > HND, then a little bit of sleep and a calm down before waking and heading to the airport for the flight. Through security again, emptying everything out of my camera bag, before boarding for the flight that would see me land in Japan at 05:55 the next day.
The gear I had to empty into trays, for everyone to see, consisted of;
- Macbook Pro
- iPhone
- GoPro Hero 9
- Leica M6 + 28mm Summilux
- Leica Q3
- Canon 5D Mk IV + 24-105mm L
- M Mount Voigtlander 35 mm
- EF Mount 16-35mm L
- Lacie 5TB Hard Disk
It doesn’t look much on the list but it all had to be removed and laid out in the grey trays. Then I was paranoid about them going missing so I had to keep my eyes on them whilst going through the scanner myself. I left my films for the M6 in the bag as they are not electronics.
Tuesday 10th June
CDG – HND
The 13.5 hour flight landed at 05:38 am in Haneda, Japan and I sorted my stuff before moving out of the airport. My case was there, although the corner totally smashed in disabling one of the wheels. I headed to the Ninja WiFi counter to pick up my Pocket Wifi that I would use for the next two weeks then after short wait for it, I headed off to the monorail for the next leg of the journey. Boarding the Monorail for the journey using my Suica app on the iPhone was super easy.
The Monorail took me to Hamamatsucho where a change to Yamanote line could then take me to Shinjuku station, the busiest station in the entire world. Around 3.5 million people use the station every single day and most of them were standing in my way as I aimed out to head over to Kabukicho area by leaving the station at the East exit.
Hotel Finding
My hotel was Apa Hotel Higashi Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower so I figured it was in the Kabukicho Tower that I was familiar with from last year. It was tipping down with rain when I exited the station from the East Exit, thanks to Google Maps directions. I was absolutley soaked when I walked into the APA hotel Kabukicho Tower, they offered me a lovely little towel to dry my head and glasses before tellign me I was at the wrong hotel. The hotel was about an 8 minute walk away in the rain…
Once I’d got there and explained to the staff that I should have checked in the previous evening they allowed me up to my room on the 19th floor. 1929 with a view out over Kabukicho, the nightlife and red light area of Tokyo. After checking I had everything sorted and squared away in the room I headed off out, I had an appointment at 15:30 hours in Shibuya with Monkey Kart.
TOP Museum
I looked at the time and it was 10am, the TOP museum opened at 10 so after buying an umbrella from a Lawson Station I jumped on a metro to Ebisu and then out to the museum, some great work in there, about the 20th anniversary of the TOP Museum but then down in B1F there was an exhibition about the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima, some brutal photos there and stories, stuff that I’d seen at the peace museum last year but still amazing history and brutal reminders of the horrors of war and nuclear war.
Monkeying Around
After the TOP Museum I headed over to Shibuya Scramble crossing and had a Starbucks overlooking the famous junction before a short walk up the road to Monkey Karts. There was Monkey Karts 2 shop and that said cancelled on the door so I wasn’t too hopeful about going out due to the rain. I’d messaged earlier and asked about a locker so it was an opportunity for them to cancel, but they never cancelled it then.
When I got there I was initially solo, there should have been another two drivers but one didn’t have his international permit so it was me and a woman who is in the Israeli army apparently. Rafa the guide led us off and we followed him around Tokyo on the main roads in amongst cars, trucks, buses etc. We drove all over Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Omotesando, and wound back up at the shop after an hour and a quarter. Good fun, and I had my GoPro with me also from which I recorded a video of some of the route. You can see that here on my YouTube channel.
Towering Over Tokyo
After the karting I visited Tokyo City View which is above the Mori Art Museum. It has potential for a great view out over the Tokyo Tower and the landscape but it was all fogged in with low cloud and rain. Still a good sight though. Once the sun had sunk behind the horizon I was strolling around the Mori area thinking about going to the cinema when I walked into a low concrete bench and twatted my right shin, I was lucky I didn’t go completely flying and damage my camera as it was very close to hitting the concrete. Following on from this a short journey on the metro took me for a walk around Takeshita street in Harajuku, it’s a street for fashionable young people and all manner of other genre of human beings. It had been 25 degrees celsius for most of the day and damp, so really humid.
Wed 11th June
Didn’t sleep brilliantly, woke up at at 5am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I contemplated heading to Mori for the Teamlab Borderless experience booked for 11 am, with an already booked trip to Shibuya Sky later at 19:00 hrs. I planned to finish the day with a look at Asakusa once I’ve finished in Shibuya.
A walk up through Koreatown to Shin Okubo station saw some different scenery and people.
TeamLab Borderless
Had fun in the Borderless exhibition and there were tonnes of opportunities for photos. Some of them would involve lights moving, shadows, reflections, sihouettes and weird and wacky things to look at. I was using my Leica Q3 in here as I didnt have a high ISO film for my M6, well I had an 800 but didn’t trust it to be underexposed.
I can imagine this place being too over stimulating if not prepared for it, the noise and ambient music with flashing images and lights everywhere and seemingly following you around slowly got to me.
I had some good times in here capturig light from projectors in the mists created by the effects, interesting angles and even unexpected people being in different areas. I’d recommend this to visitors of Tokyo but I think I preferred the Planets exhibition that I visited in ’24, it being a more practical and physical experience with less overloading of the senses.
Tokyo Tower
The rain continued and my 650 yen umbrella did its job perfectly as I walked to the Tokyo tower before grabbing a pint of mil for a drink from a 7-11. A couple of photos from around the tower and I liked one that was taken through the umbrella showing the conditions. I would not go up Tokyo Tower this year but there were a few other high locations visited later on.
Holy Concrete
A short walk from a google map directed journey I found St Mary’s Cathedral and went in for a look around. After I had taken a couple of photos I noticed some signs saying not to take photos so I stopped. I do try and act responsibly with my photography, especially when in a foreign land with no idea how to deal with the Police.
The inside of this Brutalist masterpiece was fantastic and you can see the pattern of the wood grain on each and every location that the shuttering had done its job. The shape of the structure is impressive and the acoustics are superb. A nun was rearranging the furniture on the altar and I could hear her moving paper from the back of the church. I took a few images from the outside too that really showed off this structure designed by architect Kenzo Tange and finished building in 1964. The metal and glass reminded me of the Cold War hangar from RAF Cosford completed in 2007 by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Ikebukuro Comic
Before heading over to Shibuya for the wonderful view from the top of the building there I walked through Ikebukuro capturing some photos of the station with its impressive concrete frontage and some vents in the road. I love it with the different coloured taxis in their rank waiting to pick up a customer. I found a little comic shop called Verse and after a quick scan around the Batman section I bought the Japanese Edition of Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth. Whether I’ll ever be able to read it or not is up to Duolingo and my willpower.
Shibuya Sky
Over to Shibuya then where I went to to the top, queued for an hour to get a picture taken from the photo spot of high over the city but no view of the scramble crossing. There were people taking the piss a bit after having an official picture taken, they’d pull out their phones and start doing more, but the photographer had a 30 second stopwatch on his belt, ever punctual. I found a couple of photos on the top, of the big spotlights firing off into the darkenss high above the already high tower, resembling Batman’s batsignal. There was a view of the crossing from a window a bit further down and the “open to the air” escalator was bounded by glass that reflected light from everywhere, reducing the chance of a good photograph somewhat.
A glass of craft beer after what had so far been a long day was lovely, especially as I don’t drink usually. Then it was over to Asakusa for photos of the Sensoji temple in the darkness but filming for a museum commercial had closed it off, so I strolled along the Sumida river capturing images of the Tokyo Skytree and a railway bridge or two before a journey on the metro back to Shinjuku.
Shinjuku was alive at this time of night and would be for hours yet, I walked through the streets taking pictures of people and places as well as small details that interest me of the area. Back to the hotel at 1am for a bit of a sleep before the next fun filled day.
Thursday 12th June
Ueno Park
Up at 9:00am and off to Ueno park for some images of the concrete buildings, in particular the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Walking past the library and the zoo I headed to the museum where there was a Joan Miro exhibition. I spent some time in here after getting lots in the Citizens Galleries, and although I didn’t fully “get” all of the art there was some in there that touched me and I’m glad I got the chance to visit. A lot of the surrealist works were a bit over my head but it was fun to look at and see the changes over the course of his extensive career, from the paintings of his home in the country to the surrealist brush strokes of his later works. I was trying to take photos of people in this museum too as there were many guests and I have a mission in museums and galleries to capture a photo of someone that looks like the painting or is wearing a pattern similar etc.
G-Cans – Drainage Channels
I had pre-booked a tour around the Tokyo Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Drainage channels, especially as it was my birthday. After some pre-work at home I had figured out that I got on the train to Minami-Sakurai station that would take nearly two hours I could alight and walk for thirty minutes through the local village to make my way.
We had a tour around the “pressurisation tank” that they call the Underground Temple as the pillars are massive and the area that opens up in front of you is really deep. The tour guide was providing som eexcellent information in Japanese but I was listening to my English guid on the useful app that told me all of the facts I needed. It was amazing to be in this underground area, with the weather outside at well over 30 degrees C, it was chilly and damp. We were allowed to walk in some areas but not too far away and they were very strict if you put a toe over the line. I didn’t try it but I saw a guest accidentally stray a little too far. There were some great opportunities for photos in here and I was concentrating on getting an image with nobody in it, but soon realised that having someone in the photo provided a scale to demonstrate just how huge the engineering works were.
Asakusa Birthday
With last nights inability to get to the Sensoji temple I walked back the journey to the station and then onwards to Asakusa. A quick around a Don Quijote shop and its infinite displays of everything that a human being could dream of. A look at the temple and the surroundings didn’t lead to many images and as I sat there contemplating how to spend the last bit of my birthday I noticed the Tokyo Skytree behind me. Checked for tickets and there was a single ticket for 40 minutes from then, which wasn’t long to get across the Sumida river and up to the floor with the entry gate.
A wander then around the Tembo Deck to check out the view that was much clearer than the foggy vista from the Tokyo City View the day before. A short lift ride took me up to the Top Deck and there were fewer distractions on here to reflect in the glass and prevent any photos of the overawing view of the most populated city in the world.
To end the visit to Skytree I sat and consumed a glass of Asahi beer and decided to visit Akihabara (Electric Town). When I got there not much was happening so I took a few photos and then headed back to the hotel at around midnight.
Friday 13th June
I had planned to go to Odaiba for a boat ride up the river and take a look at the weirdly sci-fi Fuji building. I had also thought that I could visit the amazing concrete cover over the plaza at Kanagawa Institute. As it happens it’s only open on a Saturday and you need to book so I was screwed.
Odaiba Beach
In Odaiba there was a lovely little beach and a boat jetty so I boarded the boat for a trip to the other end of the river, the last stop was at Asakusa. The bridges up the river were a mixture of amazing and simple, the land surrounding the river, where once it would have been fishing wharfs was a multitude of tower blocks and even huge highways in the sky dangling over the waters edge. Coming up to the landing place, there was a good view of the Asahi headquarters, designed to look like a beer glass with frothy head, the Tokyo Skytree and the “Golden Turd” or as it is officially known the “Golden Flame” Once at Asakusa I had a cup of coffee near the main gate of the Sensoji temple and did some people watching and a little photography.
Camera Museum
Next up was the JCII camera museum where they held a huge collection of cameras going back to the earliest of Daguerre’s models all the way through to modern DSLRs. There were some odd cameras such as the Minox used for spy films a lot, and then even some cameras based on guns. Bizarre. There was also a camera obscura there like a small passport photo booth that allowed you to see an upside down view of the outside on a glass screen. There was a small gallery behind the museum and it was hosting an exhibition of Aviation photographer, the late Junichi Kataoka who has some lovely image sof the aircraft from different airports around the world. There was a single wall with Concorde photos on there that were superb. As I was leaving a man approached me to say thanks for visitng and that it was his late father’s work. I expressed my gratitude and had a brief chat about his father using the Google Translate app before heading off.
Modern Museum
Then a short walk late I was at the National Museum of Modern Art. It had been closed during my ’24 visit. There were some fantastic works of art in here and a gallery based on images around war, one painting I looked at briefly caused me to double take and I noticed the intricate brush work of an artist capturing a Japanese war plane destroying two American aircraft. This image stayed with me since.
Metropolitan Government Buildings
The previous evening when I’d been looking for something to do, I had considered Shinjuku Metropolitan Government Buildings as they had a light show every night at 7:30 – 9pm but it would have been too late. So after the Museum I travelled to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings where the building was illuminated using projection mapping. A huge Pac Man artwork was my favourite but there were loads of other trippy works projected in a Guinness World Record manner, I had a pint of pale ale here too whilst takign photos and a couple of videos. Walked back to the hotel via Shinjuku at 10:30pm and dropped into bed, sbsolutely knackered. The jet lag was catching up.
Ready and packed up for the check out tomorrow, the case would leave separately so that I didn’t have to lug it around on the Shinkansen on the way to Kyoto.
Next part is my time in Kyoto, see you there!
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