Tag - photo-essay

 
 

PHOTO ESSAY

Japan Times
CULTURE / Photo essay
May 28, 2023
Does the pure joy seen at this year's Sanja Matsuri hint at a summer of celebration?
After scaled-down celebrations became the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of Tokyo's biggest festivals returns in full form.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / PHOTO ESSAY
Jan 21, 2017
Purified by the water and fire of Japan in Wakayama
On the polished stones of Ojigahama Beach in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, a group of men stand in the February cold. Dressed in long athletic coats they look like a marooned football team. They've come for shiogori, a saltwater baptism to cleanse body and mind and the first act of one of Japan's two great fire festivals.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / PHOTO ESSAY
Jan 14, 2017
Echigo-Tsumari: Creative adventures on the art field
It's winter. Inclement weather in December far north of Tokyo should come as no surprise: the farms and forests are normally blanketed in snow. So while preparing for our stay at the "House of Light," an installation in Niigata Prefecture by U.S. conceptual artist James Turrell, we aren't deterred when we receive a call from the "House's" staff warning us to anticipate snowfall.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / PHOTO ESSAY
Dec 10, 2016
Arakawa River: In search of a bygone 'water city'
For much of its history Tokyo was known as city of water. Like Venice or Bangkok, canals were the arteries of commerce, and life was lived in close proximity to rivers and creeks. But that legacy was, for the most part, hidden under concrete in the rushed development leading up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / PHOTO ESSAY
Nov 19, 2016
An eerie calm on the dark side of Shibuya
There are many versions of Shibuya. There is one that you see in tourist guides of crowded streets, and another that's less photographed: for every 10,000 photos of the Shibuya's famous scramble there are only a handful showing someone walking empty streets.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / PHOTO ESSAY
Oct 22, 2016
Coffee from another age: The last 'kissaten' of Yanesen
Shigeo Ota spends six days a week behind the counter of his cafe, Aroma, watching TV and waiting for customers who rarely come. The cafe is in Komagome, a town in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, close the quiet neighborhoods of Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi (collectively known "Ya-ne-sen"). There isn't much foot traffic here by Tokyo standards.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / PHOTO ESSAY
Sep 17, 2016
The Nagano village that modernity forgot
There is no hot water in Odairajuku, no gas-powered stoves, no fridges and — most importantly — no internet. The nearest supermarket is an hour away by car, and so is the nearest place to get a signal on your phone. But what this tiny village in southern Nagano Prefecture does offer is something that's becoming more difficult to find in Japan: a complete escape from modern life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / PHOTO ESSAY
Aug 20, 2016
Kumano Kodo: a trek to Japan's sacred heart
Two photographers walk the nation's legendary pilgrimage route, capturing the eerie solitude of a spiritual path that still dwarfs humans
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / PHOTO ESSAY
Jul 9, 2016
Yuasa: The salty, fermented heart of Japan
Craftsmen from two regional factories — one makes miso; the other, shoyu — ponder the future of their little town and its centuries-old traditions
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / PHOTO ESSAY
Jun 11, 2016
New life and old ghosts in Okinawa
I had two images of Okinawa before I visited: One was of a tropical paradise with beautiful beaches; the other, of isolated islands inhabited by strong characters that don't take any nonsense from the Japanese government or the U.S. military.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on