Framing Japan – Part 3

Following the first two posts of this series (see Part 1 and Part 2), I took some time to dig through my photo archives from previous stays in Japan. I’ve selected 5 photos with the same urban and nighttime mood. Each one reminds me of great times.

Note: I’ve only slightly edited the photos to fix some sensor dust spots and reframe each of them with a 16:9 ratio. Apart from that, they are straight out of the camera.

1. Fujisan at dawn from Yokohama
   I took this photo in March 2009, early in the morning around 5 or 6 a.m., from the rooftop of the small building I lived in at the time, in a quiet neighborhood of Yokohama. I like the lighting of the scene and how the moon aligns with Japan’s most famous mountain, both facing me.
   
2. The moon over Yokohama
   This photo was taken in February 2009, from the same rooftop, but facing the opposite direction, late at night around midnight. I love how the moon stands out with its bright orange color (no post-processing involved), and the various artificial light sources from the surrounding windows and streetlights.

I miss that rooftop. It was a quiet place with a 360° clear view of the neighborhood and a large part of Yokohama. I loved being up there alone, both at night and during the day, gazing at the city and listening to the subtle distant sounds. It was so relaxing.

3. Boats under the highway
   I took this photo in January 2009, during a night walk in my neighborhood, still in Yokohama, where I had only been living for a few days and was still discovering the area. The photo was taken exactly here, on a small road under the Koyasu Junction of Route K1. I don’t really know what to say except that I liked the scene. I didn’t have a tripod with me, and I remember it was quite a challenge to find a stable way to position my camera.
   
4. Ōsaka skyline at night
   This one was taken in April 2012, from the rooftop observatory of the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka. The 360° view of the city was impressive, especially at night. In the bottom right of the photo, you can see a highway passing through a building, known as the Gate Tower Building. The funny thing is that I knew about this famous highway, but I didn’t spot it that night—I only noticed it later when I was looking at my photos on my computer.
   
5. Yokohama at night
   The cover photo for this post. This is a skyline of one of my favorite places in Yokohama, called Minato Mirai 21. It’s a business district with a lovely atmosphere and famous spots such as the Landmark Tower (the most badass-looking building in the world—I mean, look at this picture, isn’t that some serious Akira vibes right here?!), the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, and the sail-shaped Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel. The photo was taken from the Ōsanbashi Pier, which is also a great spot to wander around. Unfortunately, the photo is a bit noisy, grainy, and blurry. I still didn’t have a tripod, and the lens and camera I used weren’t really suited for night photography at such a distance.

I miss Yokohama!