As summer lingers, autumn is just around the corner, and I'm getting ready for my annual Essence of Autumn photo tour in Japan. As a professional photographer and leader, this time of year is both exciting and busy. It may seem early, but I am already preparing to lead a group of photographers through some of Japan’s most beautiful autumn landscapes—places that most tourists never see. When leading any adventure, I give myself at least a couple of months to sift through decades of weather charts to find data that gives me a sense of what the upcoming season will look like.

My photo workshops are all about discovery and authenticity. More than 90% of my Autumn Leaves Japan Photography tour is off the beaten path. I design the tour to avoid crowded tourist spots and show you the real Japan. Everyone is welcome—amateurs and professionals. We start our journey right after we meet, instead of spending the first day in a hotel, doing a meet-and-greet, which I find a waste of money and my clients' and my team's time. As locals, my team and I don’t need to recover from jet lag, and I ask my international guests to arrive a couple of days early to rest up.

As a heads up, I don’t stick to a strict route or schedule; instead, we chase the best light and weather. My booking agent arranges our accommodations, and these don’t change unless there is a weather calamity or other calamity.

Every evening before I sleep, I check weather charts and compare them to my data, and every morning I wake up early to check weather charts and maps. I pick our daily route based on the weather and topography, so we will have the best chance at those once-in-a-lifetime shots. I don’t like to leave anything to chance or luck, especially with clients and freinds paying tens of thousands of dollars for me to do my job. I even triple-check the weather and location with my team, but they seldom question my instincts, which are based on science, statistics, and experience. Everyone must keep in mind that locations can change on a dime, as does the weather. Also, keep in mind that over 95% of those in my business in Japan don’t have the team, don’t have the experience and can't change an itinerary on the fly; as they are not locals, and mostly rely on local guides, who are pros at dealing with the ordinary tourist, but not photographers.

So if you're looking for a cruise ship routine or a tight schedule, I'm not the person for you.

This autumn, we will photograph Japan’s most exquisite Japanese maple trees in shades of red, orange, yellow, and purple, plus hundreds of other plant and tree species in places like Niigata, Fukushima, Yamagata, Tochigi, Nagano, Tokyo, Yamanashi, Toyama, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka. Our trip is a cross-country adventure. We also have a high chance of photographing snow monkeys in Fukushima. As we cross the Northern Japan Alps at one of the highest drivable routes, we then spend a few days on the Sea of Japan, photographing sea stacks. We also visit a traditional salt-making shop, where they boil seawater from the clean waters of the Sea of Japan; the salt they produce is famous throughout Japan and the world. Then we spend a few days exploring some of Japan's most ancient Zen Buddhist shrines and Shinto temples, dating back thousands of years, some built over Kofun villages and Kofun burial mounds. As an amateur historian and member of several study groups, I'm happy to share my knowledge of Japanese history, culture and sociology.

In my photo workshops, we never stop exploring; when we're in Mt. Fuji, we visit the famous Maple Leaf Corridor near Mt. Fuji, the Fuji Five Lakes, jade-green gorges, the sea of clouds in the Valley of the Dragons in Niigata, waterfalls, and much more.

Earlier this year, spring turned into summer with wonderful weather. This was great for my bird photography tours in the Japan Alps, where we photographed the Ruddy Kingfisher. Those tours followed a similar route to our upcoming autumn trip, giving me new ideas about the changing landscape. However, heavy rain and typhoons hit the Japan Alps in August. Some of the places we’ll visit this fall were affected, reminding me how quickly nature can change in Japan.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll spend time scouting our route, camping, and birding in the Japan Alps. I’ve been exploring and improving this journey for over ten years, but I never take anything for granted. The landscape changes, roads open and close, and new photo opportunities appear every year. I’ll check for road closures, explore new spots, and make sure everything is ready. Even after a decade, I’m always learning from the land, the light, and the changing seasons. Here's looking forward to a happy and colourful autumn.

One Spot just opened for The Essence of Autumn 2028.

Previous Post Next Post

Archive

Go