Planes, trains, and cable cars
48 hours in Japan's Kansai region with the Ricoh GRiii
Long after our itinerary was locked and loaded for Japan, there was a 48 hour stretch I was a little worried about.
In that space of time we were due to fly 2 hours from Sapporo to Osaka, take a 3 hour train ride up a mountain, stay one night at a Buddhist monastery, take a 2 hour trip back to Osaka, and then do a side trip to Kobe to see a sloth.
The list of transportation for the first day alone worked out to be: taxi / train / plane / bus / train / train / train / cable car / bus. That’s a lot of travelling - especially with suitcases. There comes a time when it’s too late to change plans though, and you just have to roll with it.
The 3 hour train journey to Koyasan is wonderful and provides many photographic opportunities - but you have to be quick. Fleeting moments is all you have as the train pulls into a country station, stopping for barely 60 seconds as passengers alight.
I wished I could freeze time and get off at every station to take photos. Instead all I had was for a few moments for a quick snap when the doors opened, or a precarious shot out the window.
As we headed higher and higher towards our destination, I finally had my chance at a tiny station in the middle of nowhere. The train stopped and the driver got out onto the platform. Realising that we were on a single track and must be waiting for another train coming from the opposite direction, a few of us piled out with our cameras.
It was during these few minutes I managed to get the first photo in this issue - the bright red Koyasan train with pink cherry blossoms in the background.
So how was our stay in Koyasan? Memorable, but not for the reasons we thought. We barely arrived before sun down - most of the shops and restaurants were closed and we hadn’t eaten for hours. It was almost pitch black dark, making photography difficult. The guided night time cemetery tour was booked out - tourists have well and truly returned to Japan.
We trudged around the cemetery ourselves tired and hangry, only just realising that we needed to hurry back before the monks lock the front gates at 9pm. We managed to find a small restaurant and thanks to Google Translate, we were able to smuggle fried chicken and rice back to our room.
So was our trip to Koyasan a complete disaster? Yes and no. That’s the thing about travel - sometimes it’s not about the destination - sometimes it’s about the journey. Sometimes it’s not about the things that go right, but the things that go wrong.
The next day we headed down the mountain early, dumped our bags at our Osaka hotel and jumped on another train to Kobe. We then switched to the PortLiner train which sails above the port on our way out to a zoo. I continued the tradition of taking photos of trains (above) and out of trains (below).
Our visit to Kobe Animal Kingdom Zoo was much more of a success - my son saw his 2 favourite animals - sloth and capybara. It was a beautiful sunny day and we managed to see more cherry blossoms. Best of all, we went out that night to the Pokemon Cafe in Osaka - and there was no curfew to worry about.
Film photos and more videos coming soon
Thanks for reading, next time I’ll cover our days in Kyoto chasing cherry blossoms, and then the final installment will be Tokyo.
If you signed up for this newsletter because film is your jam, I have good news. I just got back my scans from the 12 rolls of film I shot in Japan. I’ll start sharing the film highlights here in coming weeks. Also look out for more videos coming to my Matt Loves Cameras YouTube channel very soon.
Fujifilm X100V + Black Mist filter
Earlier this year I took some before and after photos with the Fujifilm X100V and the NiSi Black Mist 1/4 filter. You can check them out and watch my video in this article I wrote for Fstoppers: Is This the Perfect Accessory for Your Fujifilm X100V?
Great read Matt! Sounds like that one part of the trip would been VERY nerve wracking!! Can't wait to see the film photos!!