Explore Authentic Japan and Unearth Untold Stories with Blain & His Team in Japan!

Glaucous Gull - Hokkaido Photography Tour Underdog or Underbird?

Jan 19, 2021

My annual Hokkaido photography tour is a birding photographer’s paradise. Out on the pack ice, I witness an energetic drama with an interplay of Steller’s Sea Eagles and White-tailed Eagles being the main characters, but I want to discuss the behavior of one of the supporting avian participants, the Glaucous Gull, who like the Steller's Sea Eagle is migratory, the glaucous gull breeds in the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and winters south, from Japan, Europe, and ...

Snowy Zen Rock Garden - Niigata Japan

Jan 16, 2021

Typically, this time of year, I would be gearing up for my annual Hokkaido Photography Tour, but due to social distancing, I am staying put in Niigata for the winter due to its low numbers of coronavirus transmissions. In Niigata, we have a total of 739 with 189 active and three fatalities. This is a stark contrast between my home just outside of Tokyo in Kanagawa, so I would be foolish to leave Niigata to bask in sunny Kanagawa. Instead, my family and I are enjoying Niigata snow country and my ...

Sado Island Effect - Niigata Coastline Usually No Snow, Usually!

Jan 13, 2021

The sheltering effect of Sado Island on wind waves off Niigata city’s coast is the reason why the capital city was built where it was. Typically, Niigata city gets about twice as much snow as Tokyo does annually. The winter of 2020 was no different, but in the first weeks of January 2021, we have seen once in decade snowfall. In normal years the coastline is free of snow, but 10 - 15 kilometers inland is Snow Country Niigata, and anywhere you can view Sado Island from the mainland ...

Lighthouses and Sunset on a Japan Photography Tour

Jan 10, 2021

Lighthouses are one of my favorite human-made structures to photograph by the Ocean during the golden hour. And they are a beacon of light for us sailors and passengers and those wishing to explore the Ocean landscape on land visually. When I lead a Hokkaido Photography Tour or a Japan photo tour on the Sea Of Japan, and the lighting is right, we stop in to enjoy a spectacular golden hour at a lighthouse. Along the Sea of Japan from Aomori Prefecture to Kanazawa, the Ishikawa Prefecture ...

Hokkaido Wildlife Photography Tour

Jan 08, 2021

Several of my colleagues ask me why I choose to focus on Hokkaido and Hokkaido Photo Tours in winter rather than on Japan’s main island, Honshu and Tokyo. Although Japan is latitudinally long at over 3,000 kilometers, there are some species that can only be found in Hokkaido. One of the most majestic of these Hokkaido only avian species and one of the rarest birds on our planet is the Red-crowned Crane. I have studied the Red-crowned Cranes during my 20+ years leading Japan Photo Tours ...

The Ezo Red Fox - Hokkaido Photography Tour

Jan 05, 2021

The Ezo Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes schrencki) is a subspecies of red fox that thrives in Hokkaido. And are a species that are highlighted on my annual Hokkaido photography tour. These majestic creatures can also be found on the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, and the surrounding Northern Japanese Islands. The Ezo red fox is larger than the Japanese red fox found in the Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Also, there are slight differences in the color of the lines on the outer ears and limbs, but other than ...

Happy New Year of the Cow - Vortex Power Spots Chakras

Jan 02, 2021

Happy New Year of the Cow or Ox 2021 from Japan. Some will refer to this year as the year of the Ox or the year of the Cow; I prefer to use Cow, as an Ox is a castrated male for the Chinese, but the species is the same, and as a human being, I believe I should be kind to my fellow sentient beings, so I’m more comfortable using the year of the Cow. The year of the Cow signifies hard work, positivity, and honesty that will be manifested in all of us throughout 2021. In India and Buddhism ...

Happy Holidays from Blain in Japan

Dec 25, 2020

My year end is usually filled with celebrations and gatherings with all the different people in my social circles: clients, friends, team members, and family, and it’s typically the busiest social engagement period of the year. All the people who know me bank all the days throughout the year knowing I’m too busy with business engagements to have BBQs and meet everyone, but the end of the year is the time when I indulge myself and the people close to me in libations and celebrations. ...

Holidays and COVID 19 - A Pro Photographer Living in Japan

Dec 23, 2020

As a pro photographer living in Japan, I have had assignments and led Japan photography tours to almost every prefecture across Japan, but two of my favorites are leading a Hokkaido photo tour and leading a Niigata private photo tour and assignments. And both of these prefectures are the wild frontiers of Japan. And I have satellite offices in both Niigata and Hokkaido, but my Hokkaido office is currently unmanned due to Covid-19, and my staff left Hokkaido for the Kanto region, and because I ...

Snow Monkey Photo Tour Japan - Niigata, Nagano, or Anywhere Across Japan

Dec 17, 2020

The Japanese Macaque is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. They have become known as the snow monkey due to the fact they are the most northern living non-human primates on Earth, with the possible exception of the Abominable snowman. Regrettably, I have yet to photography that species, but not for lack of trying. Interestingly, there is much folklore of Abominable snowman reported in Hokkaido, Japan, and if any of the Abominable will pop their heads out during my ...