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We arrived home last night. There is nothing like touching down in good old NZ and hearing Kiwi Noo Zild accents again.
We got a gold star at biosecurity because we had scrubbed our boots (2 pairs each), crampons and tripod feet. When you do photo trips out in the wilds it makes it much much quicker if you pay attention to that sort of thing. We got a good laugh when William said he did his scrubbing with a toothbrush (free one from the hotel). Kim has pointed out that there are some typos in the blog. (Hah so he does actually read it from time to time!) My apologies. To try and give you non-photogs a picture of what it's like: when on a trip I'm usually up very very early, my brain is going hard all day looking for, and computing the technicalities of making, images under all sorts (and often rapidly changing) conditions. After dinner it's back up all the images (some days we shot over 1000 photos), preparation for the next day, ensuring you have sufficient & charged up batteries for example & attending to emails, chores (washing or whatever). I write the blog late & when I'm tired so it's a wonder I make sense at all really. If you see something awful please let me know so I can fix it. I shall do a wind up / postscript in a day or so.
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So back to the toirets: because they are fascinating.
You need a fistful of operating instructions which are either on an instrument panel beside the loo, or in some cases the buttons and instructions are on the wall in front in front of the loo. The heated seat (as I mentioned before) is the first thing you notice. The heat can be dialled up or down or turned off altogether. Then there is the 'bidet' section; front washing, rear washing, temperature variation, variable water flow & nozzle cleaning?? Oh and the pipes are emptied when you push the button so that by the time the water reaches you it is warm. I almost forgot about the music; waterfall noise or other musical sounds, god forbid you should hear anyone else. They seem to have thought of everything, and all this applies to public loos also. I wear glasses for reading but do not need them elsewhere, so it took me a wee while (sorry no pun intended) of peering at symbols and Japanese writing before I actually worked out what all the buttons were for. There is a trap: some toirets do not flush automatically and the flush button is sometimes cunningly disguised as a piece of wall or plumbing or something innocuous & you can easily spend 5 minutes hunting for it. And you do not dare leave until you find it. I feel sorry for Japanese visitors to New Zealand, they are in for a big shock. We had to have a quick dinner last night before going out with the local photog - so we tried a Japanese fast food joint. You pick what you want from the plates of plastic replica food and then put your money into a vending machine using a corresponding number to the plate you want, which spits out a ticket. You give the ticket to the cook and 5 min later - he shouts out your number. Dinner is served..
And at the opposite end of the spectrum these are a few pics from the food emporium in shopping centre in and under Shibuya station.
... because all I do is photograph things that interest me rather than seeing all the tourist things. We went out about 10am for a brief(ish) shoot & returned 4+ hours later. This is our last night & tonight we are meeting up with another local photog for a night shoot. Apparently the city authorities wanted to pull down the iconic 70s Nakagin Capsule Tower but the residents resisted, strongly, and it's now close to being declared a protected building. ps: I'm only doing quick &dirty photo edits!
 This is the old De Beers building. The light was lovely on this the other day but I was tired & didn't shoot it as well as I wanted. Reshooting today it was raining & I'm much happier with the moody result I was woken at 6am as soon as the first person started moving around somewhere but I had a brilliant sleep wrapped in a soft comfy duvet on futons. Futons are the best thing for a dodgy back. Aside from the onsen that is, and I indulged in another soak in scalding mineral water before breakfast. A leisurely stroll about the village confirmed that no, we would not bother with that trek again. It was snowing but very very lightly and was just melting on contact so there was little point. After we quickly checked the trains/times & connections between trains, the hotelier very kindly offered to run us to the station. So I'm now sitting on the 12.24 Hakutaka express back to Tokyo. We are determined today will be a semi relaxed day. There are still many places we want to visit but you just can't fit everything in. These images are from last night.  Wandering around Yamanouchi village last night  Onsen #3; Ladies door on left , Men on right 
3.30pm: We have just checked into our 3rd and final hotel in Tokyo - saving the best till last. Much more space than the other 2 and it's only 1 block up from the famous Shibuya crossing. 4.45ish: Out with the cameras again - this part of Tokyo is very high energy... and energizing.
Getting the Shinkasen (bullet) train was easy; the connection at Nagano was easy; getting to the hotel in Yamanouchi was easy. The hike to the snow monkey park was hard. (Not the walk per se but the gear carried.) It's a 1.6 km walk from the entrance and when we arrived we were very disappointed there was no snow, just heaps of mud & heaps of people so it was rather depressing. As Judy pointed out, when the monkeys are in the hot spring it's because they want to be there. When it’s a bit warmer and they don't need the hot spring then they are just there because they are being fed. I took photos... of course. I couldn't put my heavy pack down because of the mud, and the monkeys, and the other tourists. The Japanese are scrupulously honest - others no so much. So for hours I had my pack on my back and 2 big heavy cameras around my neck. And then it was 1.6 km back down the track and then another 50 minute walk down to the village. I really need a long soak in the onsen but will hang out until after dinner. This is a traditional Japanese ryokan (more so than the earlier ones) with futons and rice paper screens, creaky floors and very thin walls. You can just about hear people breathing next door so I'm glad this is only one night. It's meant to snow tomorrow but I cant face that hike again or having to travel back to Tokyo, 3+ hours in wet gear. I guess our run of great luck had to end at sometime, c'est la vie. The village is very cute so we’ll probably just look around here and may go back to Tokyo a bit earlier than expected. As we were checking in, the proprietor brought us tea, thinking it was green tea I added some sugar (yes, I can hear you wincing). It was disgusting and turned out to be seaweed tea - yuk. There is only 1 western restaurant in this village so we wandered down there for some dinner and it turned out to be fantastic. Great hot chocolate. Surprisingly the Japanese don't 'do' hot chocolate so it's usually hard to find. Our hotel is in this narrow little lane that has bags of character with small hotels and shops, restaurants and onsen all along it. There are 9 onsen in this one tiny street, and an onsen crawl is the thing to do after about 8pm. Everyone wears traditional yukata with a warm kimono style jacket and wooden clogs and you see groups of young people roaming between onsen. If you are staying in a hotel you get a key that allows you free entry to all the onsen. Great system. We spent a happy 90 minutes or so photographing the street. So we now feel somewhat better after a disappointing time at the monkeys. I still haven't had a good soak so I'm off to do that now.
OMG today was meant to be a quiet day. But it didn't work out that way. We left the hotel at approx 8.30 for breakfast and returned at 6.30pm with only a stop for breakfast & lunch. We needed to sort out the rail passes for the bullet train tomorrow and I forgot my passport so that meant a walk back to the hotel but in doing so we saw the arrival of some bigwig or other in a carriage of the sort the British Royals ride around in. We spent the whole day walking around photographing anything that took our interest, usually unusual buildings, which Tokyo is full of. Funnily enough I have been photographing all day but don't seem to have much to show for it. Some equipment malfunction I think as I know I photographed the De Beers building with William's wide angle lens but I cannot see any photos using that lens. Not even travel brain can stuff that up! We also took in 2 photographic exhibitions. One in which we found an interesting printing technique that we have not seen used in NZ. The other was Called Follow Me and was about Ezo - the Red Fox. We grew rather fond of foxes in Hokkaido. The author was Hiroki Inoue and I've included some of his images to give you an appreciation of his work. Please forgive the rubbish reproduction. These photographs were at least 1 metre wide & stunning in their detail, expression & beauty. Something else we did today was visit a stationery store called Itoya (pronounced E-toh) & has been in business for 113 years. This was impressive, 12 floors of stationery and next door another 6 floors. One whole floor was devoted to letters; the most beautiful stationery you have ever seen. Another was just full of cards; another of pens/pencils (some of those pens you'd need to take out a mortgage for); another devoted to travel; another to diaries, you get the idea. It's another early start tomorrow as we are taking the bullet train to Nagano to see the snow monkeys. I hope there is actually some snow given the recent warm spell. The forecast there tomorrow is 6 degrees.
Ok just a quick update… Immediately after breakfast it was our final image review and I'm pleased to say that the Kiwi contingent held their own amongst the nature photogs. We had lunch at Kusshiro airport finishing with a green tea ice cream. Well, sometimes you just have to try things. And the verdict: umm different, not really my thing. It was snowing again as we left Hokkaido at lunch time & we arrived in Tokyo to 19 degrees and rain. We are now quite used to taking the monorail from the airport to Hamamatsucho and switching lines to Tokyo station. Our guide Mari had expressed some doubt as to our ability to navigate the immense Tokyo station as there are 120 exits but we managed easily, only to get a bit lost trying to locate the hotel. A very kind local helped us out and eventually three drowned Kiwis arrived dripping puddles on the polished 'robby' floor. No time for photography today so apart from the ice cream these are from yesterday.
Onsen bathing is fantastic. I think everyone is aware of the general concept of Japanese bathing. You have public onsen where everyone bathes together (genders separated) in a communal facility and that is what we have been enjoying so far. This hotel has 2 private onsen. It's like a bathroom but bigger and is more than large enough for a couple. The general layout between the 2 types is the same. There is an entry room where you undress, with cubicles for clothes. Mirrors, hairdryers, moisturizer etc are usually provided. Then, in a large onsen you go into a large steam filled room which usually also has 2 or more large pools of very and very very hot mineral water. There is usually also an outside pool and in our last hotel it was artfully arranged with large boulders. There you sit and look out onto the snow & woods. At this boutique hotel, the onsen looks out onto a garden/woods but the windows don't open. The bath/pool here is approx 2m x 1.20m and faced in black marble or granite. So... on entering the 'bath' room, large or small, you sit on little stools and wash yourself thoroughly before you get into the bath/pool. There are no namby pamby rules about how long you stay in - it's up to you. If you want to wash your hair, you either do it before or after the hot bath but if after, then you do not wet your hair in the pool. I am absolutely sold on the onsen idea. In western baths you recline and it hunches or rounds your shoulders and is not good for your back/neck. The Japanese style, while shallow compared to a swimming pool, is deep enough to sit upright and the water comes to over your shoulders. Fabulous. Mind you they don't have to heat the water. New Zealand hot spring facilities could do an awful lot better. I seriously doubt any Japanese would even consider getting in one, except of course the posh one at Rotorua. Obviously there is no way I could take a camera into a public onsen. Even if you timed it so no one else was there, the steam would wreck it. But here I was able to leave the doors open and photograph before it got cold so the condensation was minimal ...and I used my phone. ps: I may not manage a post tomorrow. We have a final image review in the morning before our flight at 11am & we are not likely to get to our hotel until 5ish.
It was 9.30 by the time I had finished my blog post last night & the place was deserted, everyone was in bed (or in their rooms at a least). I enjoyed a 15 minute soak in the onsen (it was very hot) & you can't do that when sharing as there are no separate showers, and then I went to bed and slept like a stone. This morning breakfast was at 6am (a sleep in!) and then we left for one of the crane feeding stations. It was very early as the birds don't get fed until 9am but we wanted to be the first there and to get the pick of the vantage spots. The birds gradually flew in, back lit against a watery rising sun. I must admit, despite a good sleep I'm bone weary now & my back is saying it's had enough. I think being able to have a good soak in the onsen has helped immensely. Anyway, back to the birds, as there were fewer it was possible (if they cooperated) to find clear space around them and we couldn't believe it when they began to dance. 'Amazing' just doesn't cut it; they dip, spin & jump and generally show off their dancing skills because it's coming up to mating season. In fact we did see a bit of bird sex, but unless the others had told me I wouldn't have recognised the behaviour. It was just a mass of feathers; he jumped on her back and in a spit second (yes really) jumped off again. Then someone with a very big lens and a motor drive said it was just a practice - no contact made. Okaaay. The afternoon session is going to be in the same place and they are staying from 1-6pm and it will be all standing in the cold. Enough, I bailed on that. This is our last full day on tour, we fly back to Tokyo tomorrow.  Thought you might like to see a wider pic of where we were photographing - and why you need a big lens     Lots of villages have multiple solar farms - this pic is William's coz mine didn't turn out as we sped past. If you treat this early start as a bit of an adventure it's not so bad. Thankfully there is only one like that. So there I was at 4am sitting in a nice warm bus - the tripods had been carefully set up on the bridge, as close as possible to each other; legs intersecting without touching and not touching the bridge so that the movement of many feet will not vibrate through them. I had a hot chocolate and listened to good music on my ipod. The bus was dark & 1 or 2 were dozing. Unfortunately 2 things compromised the images; 1. my lens at 400mm just wasn't long enough to provide anything other than a landscape with birds in it 2. it was not cold enough so the steam (from the warm spots in the river) did not create the hoar frost that we were looking for. Nevertheless there was no wind & the temperature was zero so pretty tropical really. It wasn't as busy as it has been in past years when the photographers were 3 deep but still busy enough. The minute we got the snow storm the temperature rose and has stayed at zero or in the low + range ever since. Back to the hotel for breakfast & then out again. This was to another crane 'feeding station' but it was better than yesterday afternoon as there were less cranes so it was possible to isolate them occasionally. And then it was out again in the afternoon until sunset. The last session wasn't great for me but I'm happy with some of the images from the middle shoot today. I should also mention that these cranes are an endangered species there is only approx. 2,000 and most are in Hokkaido.
 The cranes come down like parachutists, somewhat gangly and weird  Half a metre of fresh snow overnight and the road was closed until about 8am. Our driver Abe (pronounced Ah Bay) manoeuvres the bus like a Fiat Uno and we drove back to the little outdoor onsen (our usual afternoon photo stop) and did the swan thing again. A little old man from one of the houses thought all these photographers wading through knee deep snow were utterly nuts. Fortunately for William & I on the way back we also stopped at the main swan place on the lake. Everyone else went for the swans, we went for the trees covered in snow and got some strenuous exercise in the process. Mainly the snow was knee high but went up to hip high in a couple of places. We were keen to re photograph yesterdays tree without all the footprints in the foreground. Even weeds look fabulous with a coating of snow. Mid morning we drove to Tsurui for the famous Tancho - Red Crowned Cranes. Apparently they are a symbol of good fortune so you can imagine what reaction that causes in Asian people. After lunch we went to a feeding station and I could not believe the crowd - all bristling with massive lenses. 2 people deep in places, reputedly it gets a lot worse than that. There was a bit of a ruckus when we arrived at this hotel, the size of some of the rooms is very small (although I have to say slightly larger than our rooms in our Tokyo hotel). I lucked in for once, because William very kindly offered to carry my bag upstairs I went ahead and chose the room at the end of the corridor thinking it would be quieter. By the time one of the women came up the only room left was a small one and she pitched a giant fit over it. So I have a larger room with a sleeping loft and will sleep on a futon tonight. The sofas were made up as beds for us westerners but my back wouldn't put up with that so I've moved the bedding up to the loft, which is the usual sleeping place. This is a very small boutique hotel with only 12 rooms and we have taken the whole lot. It's very homely and has a lovely feel to it with a fireplace and personal touches all over the place. The food is fantastic and a Japanese / French fusion. We do not have ensuite rooms here (only a wash basin) but there are 2 bathrooms (loos are separate) each containing a private onsen, although you cannot afford to soak as others want to use them too. Tomorrow we hit the jackpot - the bus leaves at 3.30am. Yes, you did read that right. There is a particular place that the cranes sleep overnight in the river that is warmed by a hot spring and the vantage spot is on a bridge. A small amount of space with a large amount of people wanting it. Result… a 3.30am start for a 6am shoot. I know… it's mad. But as I've paid the money I may as well make the most of it. It’s been a total rush since we got here & I thought we might have a quieter day with such an early start but no, it's another full day tomorrow. It's the last 3 days of the tour so it's all ramping up a bit. Ok gotta go - need to be in bed by 9ish.
 Hi Ho Hi Ho... it's off to the lake we go   Our tree with no footprints!   and sometimes they misjudge it & get really close! This morning was very overcast with flat light - perfect for photographing white(ish) swans against white snow. The cloudy conditions meant that the swan morning wake up was pointless so we got to lie in and didn’t depart until 7.30am. It was snowing lightly with no wind as we got off the bus and it was lovely shooting in that. Not particularly cold only -3. The snow just continued to get heavier as the morning wore on. Finally we’d run out of options, the swans were not moving around much and the weather was getting worse. I was happy as I'd got the chance to do some more minimalist landscapes even though the footprints hadn't been filled in yet - hopefully I'll get the chance to remedy that tomorrow. We had lunch & followed it with an ice cream cone. That's a first, walking about eating an ice cream while its snowing. Our guide Mari is absolutely lovely, she has been to NZ and was talking about the All Blacks at lunchtime. Lugby - yep that took me a second or two. She also can't say crab it's clab but she is a darling so we don’t laugh. There is a standing joke about meeting in the 'robby'. It's blowing & snowing heavily now, turning into a storm, so I'm glad we are not still out there. Not sure how much of a storm it will be, they think gale force is about 45kph here - hah! So it's an afternoon off. The others are all probably downloading and checking their images. I headed straight for the onsen. I'd not been in it in daylight before, so sitting outside in scalding hot water watching the snow swirling through the trees. Beautiful. I guess if you were intrepid you could conceivably trek through the woods and snow to watch the women (or men) in the outdoor onsen. But as Japanese society is very proper and totally used to segregated bathing I doubt the concept even crosses anyone's mind.
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