Japan

Last year we went to Japan to finally visit friends after two decades of planning to. Because they live in Fukuoka, we only ended up visiting Hiroshima, Kyoto and Osaka afterwards. We loved it there and as soon as cheap flights became available, booked another one for Tokio, to be legally allowed to cross off Japan as visited.

Now if I were to book the trip today, I probably wouldn't. It's quite a gamble given the geopolitical situation and Asia running out of oil. But making it back, it's been as good as the first one. Visiting only Tokio with a short trip to Kawaguchiko in the Sakura blooming season worked out great.

At the start of the year, I promised myself I'd shoot my Fuji more. And no, I don't mean the volcano, I mean the X-T20. I haven't exactly kept that promise, usually just falling back on my iPhone instead. Luckily, I didn't chicken out of carrying the extra weight for this trip, and I think it really paid off! I did stick strictly to my 35mm lens, since my desire to haul heavy gear has definitely faded over the years. And honestly, after walking over 120km in just a few days, my back was already reminding me I'm not getting any younger, even with the minimal setup!

While the difference in quality isn't quite visible on Pixelfed or my photo website (I don't post to Instagram anymore), working through the set on a 4K display has been a pleasure. Bigger sensor is a bigger sensor.

Check out more photos on photo.jimmac.eu -- use arrow keys of swipe to navigate the set.

I also managed to get both of my weeklybeats tracks done on the flight so that's a bonus too!

Japan is probably quite difficult to live in, but as a tourist you get so much to feast your eyes on. It's like another planet. I hope to find more time to draw some of the awesome little cars and signs and white tiles and electric cables everywhere.