Golden Week 2022: a retrospective

Photograph of a Japanese mascot called Hikonyan who is a cat with a samurai's horned helmet in yellow and red and a bell around his neck

It was a mixed bag for this year’s Golden Week. The weather was a bit on-off, and an SD card failed, which meant a lot of images were lost from a visit to a beautiful piece of coastline. Still, on balance it was a relaxing few days and a chance to enjoy exploring Japan a little more.

Amanohashidate

Apparently, this town on the northern coast has one of the 3 great views of Japan. Sadly I decided to take a look on the day of a heavy thunderstorm.

Black and white photograph of a woman holding an umbrella looking at the stretch of land separating a lagoon from the Sea of Japan

Black and white photograph of a landscape, with hills in the foreground, a sliver of land separating inland lagoon and Japan Sea

By the afternoon, the rain has passed and we were down on the beach we’d seen from the mountains.

Black and white photograph of a figure on a sandbank fishing with water around them and in the background mountains

Black and white photograph of a log on a beach. In the background are people walking on the sand

Black and white photograph of people playing on a beach, with one person in the water, seen with foliage out of focus in the foreground and rich trees in the background

A brief pause on the way home.

Black and white photograph of a person fishing on a quayside while a ferry passes by in front of lush trees

Wakayama

This was where my SD card failed. I managed to get a decent photo of Henrietta Hustler on my phone though.

Black and white photograph of a Suzuki hustler kei car photographed straight onto the camera

Osaka

First visit to Osaka in a couple of months went via the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, then stumbled into a festival of roses.

Photograph of a woman looking at a statue of a cat wearing an orange space suit and metal helmet

Photograph of the inside of a museum, with a walkway bridge across the middle of the image and people walking beneath it

Photograph of a tall metallic robot with round feet, long arms and glowing eyes — Giant Toyora is a fire breathing robot who only obeys orders from children.

Photograph of people mingling amongst rose bushes, with reds, yellows and white flowers in muted colours

Hikone

Located on the banks of Japan’s largest lake, the city is famed for its gorgeous castle. Explore a little further and you’ll also find an “old town” with pre-war architecture and a shopping street that appears to be suspended in the 1980s.

Photograph of a Japanese castle. The castle is in the background and is white and grey against the blue sky, with a brownish building in the foreground

Photograph of a woman with an umbrella walking past a tall statue. The figure on the statue is a Japanese General and appears to be looking down at her

Photograph of a shopping street with a yellow strip for blind people in the middle, closed shops on the left and open to the road on the right

Photograph of a 2cv hidden behind a row of bicycles in front of a house and left to rot

Filed under:
Play: photography, road trips, art etc
#japan #photography

My name is Ross Hori

I'm a freelance writer, designer and photographer. By day I create articles, features and reports. At night I take photos and write fiction. Find out more.

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