As a dedicated, dyed-in-the-wool otaku, I’ve always felt at some point I had to undertake the journey that all anime fans dream of. To make a pilgrimage to that place where all of our beloved media, merchandise, and moe girls spring from. Yes, I’ve always dreamed of visiting the Rightstuf warehouse. But then they got shut down, so fuck it, I decided to go to Japan instead.

Joking aside, visiting Japan has been one of my long-time ambitions, somewhat hindered by the fact that a) flights halfway round the globe are kind of expensive b) I do not speak or read a lick of the language and c) if you hadn’t noticed, the world has been going through some stuff in recent years. That pushed the potential timeline for this visit back multiple years from the original rough window of 2020, but eventually in March of this year I was finally able to set foot on the Land of the Rising Sun, accompanied by my redoubtable GLORIO colleagues Peter and colons. I’m very grateful to them for doing the vast majority of the planning and logistics, and also for invaluable advice which prevented me from looking *too* much like an idiot tourist, though rest assured I still definitely was one.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m a photographer in my regular 3D life, and getting to shoot the sights is always a big part of why I choose to go certain places. Rather than a wall-of-text travelogue I’ve instead decided to relay my journey through a dozen photos I took, with a little commentary on each of them. Hopefully this will give you some idea of what it was like to explore the country for the very first time.

Kabuki-chō, Shinjuku, Tokyo

I’ve tried to avoid too much ‘neon and wet pavements’ in this roundup because it’s very much the most common, cliched style for photos of Japan, but it’s hard to eliminate it completely, especially if you’re talking about Kabukicho. Originally infamous as Tokyo’s red light district, these days it’s a much more friendly, theme-park version of itself, stuffed with flashy restaurants and bars and gaggles of tourists, though I was warned the retailers are still not above putting the screws to gullible foreigners. Sadly, the legendary Robot Restuarant shut down for good during the pandemic. This shot was taken from directly under the famous Ichiban-Gai red gate, looking down Yasukuni-Dori.

DiverCity Plaza, Odaiba, Tokyo

Odaiba is an artificial island built in the Tokyo Bay, originally as a fortress but nowadays famous as a major residential and leisure area. Quite a few famous Tokyo landmarks are located on Odaiba, including the obvious focus of this picture, the life-size Unicorn Gundam located outside the DiverCity retail complex. This location was the first permanent display for a 1/1 scale Mobile Suit, originally the classic RX-78-2, but since 2017 this light-up version of the RX-0 Unicorn. It’s not just a static piece either – the statue is capable of transforming from its regular ‘Unicorn’ mode during the daytime to the neon-lit ‘Destroy’ mode you see here at night. At the time I was visiting there was also a special sound-and-light show every hour to promote the then imminent release of the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom film. Inciddentally, although it’s not shown in this album, I also got to see another, entirely separate life-size Gundam in Fukuoka, this time a version of the RX-93v. DiverCity also contains a full Gundam Base store, packed with (very expensive) exclusive merch and kits. You can buy a flight vest with ‘Quattro Vagina’ on it!

Osaka Castle, Chūō-ku, Osaka

Given this was my first trip to the country, I tended to spend more of my time gawking at modern Japan rather than delving deep into its historical sites. That’s not a decision I regret but it’s definitely something I intend to remedy when/if I end up going back, as there’s a huge trove of fascinating stuff to be uncovered. One definite highlight of the trip though was getting to see Osaka Castle, an honest-to-god fortress keep that looks like it leapt directly out of the pages of a textbook into real life. There wasn’t the time or inclination to explore the museum-esque interior but just seeing it perched against the skyline was an iconic moment.

Kimono Forest, Arashiyama, Kyoto

While taking photos of people anywhere is an exercise that’s become somewhat fraught in our more paranoid times, it’s especially tricky in Japan, where there’s a strong taboo against taking pictures of people in public. Fortunately, it’s a bit easier in tourist-y spots such as the Kimono Forest, a weird yet oddly wholesome art installation in Kyoto consisting of hundreds of perspex pillars each containing a different traditional kimono pattern. In general I was somewhat surprised by the number of people I saw in traditional dress, though again we were mostly in high-tourism areas. More on that below.

Kinkaku-ji/Rokuon-ji, Kita-ku, Kyoto

I’d charitably describe the weather during our trip as ‘changeable’ – to put it bluntly there was a lot of rain, which is about what you’d expect in late March. Our day in Kyoto was blessedly sunny & clear however, and I’m incredibly grateful for that, because it enabled me to see this astonishingly beautiful sight at its absolute best. There’s been a temple on this site since the early 15th century, although the current incarnation dates from 1950 after the previous building was destroyed in a fire. And yes, it’s covered in actual gold leaf. Combined with the stunning setting it’s one of the most gorgeous places I’ve ever visited.

Fukuoka Castle Grounds, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka

While our trip was a little early for full on sakura season, you could definitely see the cherry blossoms beginning to bloom, especially towards the end of our time in Japan. One unexpected but delightful side-effect of this was the surprisingly large number of couples who were coming out to have engagement or pre-wedding shoots done against the backdrop of the blooming trees. These were almost invariably done in traditional garb and I must have run across at least a dozen separate occasions of shoots happening across all of the cities we visited. It never failed to draw a small crowd of tourist shmucks like myself, and it never failed to be deeply charming.

‘Atomic Bomb Dome’, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima

Our schedule meant that I ended up visiting Hiroshima the day after Nagasaki and that…that’s a lot, I wouldn’t recommend trying to do them back to back like that unless you’ve got a hell of a tough constitution. That said, a visit to one or the other is in my opinion essential if you want to understand some of the trauma that underlines modern Japanese culture. The A-Bomb Dome, formerly the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, is an icon of the city and its ruined skeleton is beautiful in an odd way, surrounded as it is by the river and the leafy confines of the Peace Park. As unbelievable as it may sound, I didn’t stage this picture – the paper crane was already perched in the bush and I just took my stance and clicked away. One of those perfect little coincidences.

Mount Fuji, just outside Fuji, Tokaido Shinkansen

Having missed the chance to see Mt Fuji on our trip outward from Tokyo (we sat on the wrong side of the train), I was determined to get a glimpse on our way back, to the extent that I eschewed our pre-booked seats to queue up ahead of time for the free seating cars. Fortunately this paid off with a prime window seat, but unfortunately the weather was against us, being dull and overcast and, as we travelled across the heart of Japan, increasingly stormy and rainy. By the time we reached the Fuji area we could hear thunder and see great sheets of rain falling across the fields miles away. I’d pretty much resigned myself to not seeing the mountain when all of a sudden we hit a patch of clear weather and the icy peak loomed out of the clouds at us, giving me about 30 seconds to snap this shot. It was a surprising and utterly awe-inspiring moment.

Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo

Look, I think we all rationally understand that Tokyo is a big city, but it’s hard to understand just *how* big unless you have the option to get up as high as a trip to the Sky Tree enables you to get. Even at 450m in the air the buildings still seem to go on forever and horizon to horizon is filled with urban sprawl. It’s breathtaking in its own kind of way. Incidentally, while I found the trip up the Skytree very pleasant it’s not for those who are at all leery about heights. I’ve had some prior experience with very tall towers (most notably the CN Tower in Toronto, whose upper viewing platform is about the same height as the Sky Tree’s) but it’s a hell of a shock to the system if you haven’t.

Tokyo Big Sight, Odaiba, Tokyo

Back on Odaiba, the Big Sight is of course the location of biannual nerd mecca Comiket, the world’s largest fan convention of any kind.  Making it out to one of those events is still something I’d very much like to do, but in the meantime I’m glad I at least got to see such an iconic building. I got so caught up in shooting this photograph and various other locations on Odiaba that I very almost missed the last train off the island, and I had to make my way back to our accommodation by hopping across various metro services along with a hefty doe of walking. If push came to shove I guess I could have taken a taxi but I don’t even want to imagine what that would have cost.

‘Shibuya Scramble’, Shibuya, Tokyo

It’s almost impossible to convey how insanely busy this famous crossing is without actually being there. I climbed onto the top of a barrier to get a picture which showed as much of the crowd as possible and it still doesn’t convey the sheer mass of humanity. Also directly behind where I’m standing is the Hachiko statue, which attracts a gigantic crowd of its own. If you look carefully you can see a poster for the then-airing Dungeon Meshi, and though not pictured here the building-side adverts across the street were the first pieces of media I’d seen for the upcoming Girls Band Cry.

Chuo-dori, Akihabara, Tokyo

Look I think we all know on some level that Akihabara is a shadow of what it once was and is mostly an overpriced tourist trap these days. But I’d be lying if walking down that famous throughfare, seeing the itasha cruise by (lots of love for Hololive characters predictably) and watching as the buildings gradually lit up didn’t give me the chills on some level. For better or worse it’s still the iconic home of otaku culture and no matter what the reality is, feeling like I was living inside an anime for a brief moment was a fun experience.

BONUS: Digimon Adventure sign, Hikarigaoka, Tokyo

Can you believe I flew ten thousand kilometres halfway around the planet and then used my time to go have my picture taken with this dumb sign? God, what a nerd.