Are you seeking to experience what is truly unique and can only be found in the land of the rising sun? My best advice for you is to join a Photography Tour Japan. Our photo tour itineraries are specialized adventures for photographers of all levels, happily we have noticed a new trend with an increase of clients who are new to photography. Some of our clients are now exclusively using pocket cameras and handy phones, they are taking some pretty amazing shots, and have taught me a thing or two, I have even started carrying my pocket camera with me now on adventures. But so far we have not had any pocket camera or iPhone exclusive photographers join our wildlife adventures in Japans most Northern Island Hokkaido, the pocket camera and iPhone still have a way to go before they can capture the red-tailed eagle or other raptors in flight during winter. But I imagine it’s not far away until the handy phone will accomplish this, the worrying factor mostly is the cold and battery life. The life of the camera battery in the cold with live view on can be troublesome especially when we are photographing from early in the morning to well after dusk. To remedy this I have started carrying several adaptors that plug into our sports utility vehicles, and I have noticed many of our clients are bringing their adaptors to plug into the vehicles. The majority of new photographers are joining our tours and workshop packages that highlight cherry blossoms in Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Niigata, Nagano, Kyoto and the backcountry also autumn leaves is also very popular. These new visual art photographers are keenly interested in aspects of daily life in Japan. We have had more requests in the past two years to stay at traditional Japanese ryokans than in the 20 years we have been offering photo tour packages throughout Japan. One of my favorite ryokans is Shibu Onsen Kanaguya it is said to have inspired Hayao Miyazaki’s bathhouse in spirited away. Shibu Onsen is located in Nagano Prefecture in the Honshu mainland of Japan and is a hot springs village with a history of over 1300 years. Stone roads and lanes are surrounded by traditional wooden ryokans making this very attractive with many wonderful photo opportunities. This village is also home to the snow monkeys, who also love the hot springs as much as I do. It’s a new era of photography and a great time to be a photographer I am happily embracing each new advancement. I hope you are enjoying it as much I am.