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When you make a reservation on my annual Hokkaido Photo Tour or any of my Japan Photography Workshops, there is a section to check off for your preference for Western or Japanese style accommodation and food.  First, my team and I go through each reservation to ensure we have the correct accommodations selected.  The next step is checking for food or other allergies such as flora or fauna.  Also, during the registration of a Japan Photo Workshop, my style is not to bombard clients at one time with endless questionnaires that, in my opinion, border on obtrusive, but if clients join at the last minute, I have to use the industry’s standard approach which I feel to be mechanical, and being Canadian born, I don’t like to push.  I enjoy getting to know my clients’ preferences and mindset before our start date.  Also, well before the workshop begins, six months or earlier, I send an email to clients with recommendations for gear and clothing.  I used to send pamphlets with a return envelope and postage, but many of the pamphlets did not return, and the clients responded by email, so I have since forgone sending my pamphlets by post.  My team and I’s goal is to have our clients feel relaxed, almost in a state of Zen upon arrival in Japan with all their questions and concerns answered.  Occasionally, I video chat with participants if that’s their preference, or sometimes a phone call, which I prefer and I use the phone daily. And my cell phone is a flip-style phone, but I have an i-pad pro and MacBook pro with me when needed and a satellite phone.

If everyone chooses the Japanese accommodations, then I choose one of my favorite traditional Japanese Ryokans on my Hokkaido Photo Workshop.  And this is no ordinary lodging, for it's where Hayao Miyazaki was inspired to create the film 千と千尋の神隠し or in English ‘Spirited Away’.  However, almost every year, one or two clients check-off Western-style rooms, so I choose Western-friendly lodging so participants can enjoy the relaxing and rejuvenating elements associated with a bed and shower in your room;  at Japanese Ryokans, you would sleep on futons, which I find comfortable, but some don’t, and there is no shower in your room, but there are private healing hot springs or communal ones, male and female bathing separately.

Male only Roman bath/hot springs at a traditional Japanese Ryokan.

Entrance to the hot springs/Onsen.

First course meal setting are set minutes before you arrive, and you can expect 6 or more courses to be served during dinner.

One of my favorite Traditional Japanse Ryokans dinning rooms, dating back to he Edo Period.

Every afternoon, at my all-time favorite historical ryokan, where I stay once or twice a year, there is a tour around the hotel, sharing the architecture and history of the storied inn.  Usually, I skip tours of hotels thinking the tour contents will be shallow, sales-orientated, and uninteresting, but on my first visit to this unique Japanese inn, I was assured that I would learn something.  I was initially skeptical, but as the tour progressed, I made sure to approach this event using a tool I always carry: the "Zen Buddhist Beginner’s Mindset." I try always to have an open mind, and with an open mind, you can’t go wrong, and this approach gives me the joy to always experience a new fronteering angle with fresh eyes as if each visit were my first encounter.  

Our pre guided tour and guide explains the hundreds of years history at this amazing Japanese Ryokan that dates back to the Edo Period.

Ryokans arcade with artifacts on display dating back to the Edo period and beyond. I took this image while take the Ryokans Spirited Away Tour.

On my first adventure staying at this Edo Period Japanese Ryokan, clients and I had suite rooms.   And as I walked into the inn, I started drooling at what lay ahead of me in terms of architecture.  In all my years in Japan, I had never seen anything like this ryokan.  We spent three days photographing the inn, and I have spent more than a dozen times there, but I am still not finished photographing its splendorous magic.  Photo opportunities are everywhere, and HDR is a must, and this is time consuming visual arts.  When we first checked in, I talked with the owner and staff and asked if it would be okay to photograph throughout the hotel. The present owner, a representative of the 6th generation of owners, and the family have always been visionaries and gave their blessings. They continue to allow us access to photograph in their historical, mind-boggling ryokan.  I truly understand now, after all these years, why Hayao Miyazaki was inspired by this transcendent piece of living art.

Sitting room in the front lobby with Zen garden and koi pond outside, and you can view the koi and pond from the widow.

Arcade museum that you pass after checking inn.

Hall-Way to my favorite suit rooms in this traditional Japanese Ryokan. We ave to book these suit rooms at least a year in advance, to make sure we get my favorite suit rooms.

This traditional Japanese Ryokan has a history reaching back to the Edo Period, specifically for the region’s therapeutic power of its onsens.  Countless travelers have used the hotel as a reinvigoration station, preparing themselves for the second half of a longer pilgrimage further north on Japan’s main island, Honshu, or even up to Hokkaido.  As travel became easier for the Japanese during the Showa Period and during the tumultuous 1950s, the hotel became an even more appealing beacon of light for travelers to soak in the milky white hot springs to rejuvenate their health and spiritual mindset.  And everyone who has taken a Japan Photo Tour with me knows I love to relax after a long day of photography in the healing onsen from destinations as far north as Hokkaido and as far south as Okinawa.  

Private hot springs in the shape of a boat, this hot springs is big enough for a family of 6 to enjoy, with room to stretch.

Hallway leading to elevators, there are six floors at this Ryokan, during the Edo Period they used the stairs.

Stairway going to another hot springs and section of this amazing Japanese Ryokan. And believe me you need a map so you don't get lost.

All stairways and halls are brilliantly decorated and photo worthy.

 

One of my favorite hot springs is in Rausu is a free open-air onsen, and immediately after disembarking from our ship from the morning photographing the Steller's Sea Eagles in the pack-ice, my team and I have made a tradition of taking about a 30-min soak in these healing hot springs, as local sea persons do.  I usually recommend clients not to join us in these outdoor hot springs because the temperature is often around -10℃, and the water temperature on the male-only side can be scorching hot, sometimes around 50℃; by contrast, the women's side is usually around 43℃ and pleasant.  Interestingly, there is a cold water tap, but for some reason, the men's side is always super hot, so if I’m alone or with friends, clients, or my team, I turn on the hose for the cold water, so the hot springs will cool down.  Even fully open, the cold water takes several minutes to reduce the temperature to the same level as the women’s side. When the hot springs are super hot, I spend about 10 minutes washing and splashing hot springs water over my body to acclimatize to it, so I am sure not to go into shock when getting into the hot springs.   In February 2020, Martin from Europe, a good friend, and a client who has joined me on several expeditions, enjoys the healing properties and relaxing conversations we have about photography and our next day's adventure in the Japanese hot springs; yes, we usually enjoy hot springs after a long day of photography and not in the middle of the day. Martin was going to enter the hot springs with me, but when we were in the changing room, I noticed several locals in the hot springs pool, and I knew I could not turn on the cool water without being frowned upon. Also, a new team member of mine was bathing for his first time at these hot springs, and I did not have time to warn him about the scolding hot water; anyway, he just quickly washed and jumped into the bath.  He looked shocked and left the hot spring after one or two minutes.  Martin understood, and I promptly said, "skip this one," and he walked back to the SUVs; I enjoyed a 20 minutes soak in the onsen, as did my wife, on the female-only side. 

Male change room at the open air onsen in Rausu, Hokkaido.

Male's side at open air Onsen in Rausu, Hokkaido.

Rausu Onsen Women side change room and Onsen has a fence for privacy.

A White Tailed Eagle plucking a fish from the freezing waters of Hokkaido. I took this image from the deck of our ship in pack ice, while leading my annual Hokkaido Photography Workshop Tour.

White Tailed Eagle coming straight at me, I took this image while I was leading a private Hokkaido Birding Tour, participants and I were in Zodiacs.

The Steller's Sea Eagle, the world's most fierce and most enormous of all Raptors, these guys have survived several Ice Ages. I took this image of the Stellers sea eagle while leading a private Hokkaido Birding Workshop.

Another element that sparked Hayao Miyazaki’s Japanese animation film is the portions of food the inn offers.  In Spirited Away, the lead character’s parents sit down and indulge in a seemingly endless supply of food, and due to an enchantment, they are transformed into pigs.  I can’t say the food is enchanted, but it is most undoubtedly delicious and abundant.  The amount of food that arrives as part of your set meals at the ryokan seems to be made for twice or triple as many people as are actually dining, and every time I stay there, all of the tables in the huge Japanese style dining room have half of the served meals leftover.  Before I came to Japan, I was part vegetarian who ate fish and the odd chicken-breast, but a part of my upbringing and tradition is always to accept the food I am served, and this tradition has been reinforced by Japanese dining customs.  At this ryokan, and all over Japan, many recipes, particularly sauces, have a fish or poultry base, so I have had to develop a bit more culinary plurality.  However, for participants, my team and I take the time and make sure our client's culinary needs are fulfilled and that they can enjoy the Japanese dining experience with a toast before returning to explore the amazing traditional inn or a pre-slumber soak in one of the amazing onsens.

Gary, Niki, my wife Manami and me, after check-in. We were looking a little rough from many days on the road without stopping. This Ryokan gave us a much-needed rejuvenation.

Dinner this was probably our 5th course, my wife Manami and me. Gary and Niki opted for us to take a photo for our memory. Gary and Niki were clients then but good friend now, and we hope to visit them next year in the USA.

Join me and Find Your Inspiration on a Hokkaido Birding Tour or Japan Photo Tour!
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