Ross Hori

writer | designer | photographer

Play: photography, road trips, art etc

Not everything has to be about my work. These are posts about my hobbies and interests beyond my professional life.

The trail guide said “Difficulty: Medium.” I’d like to disagree.

Article
Monday, November 20th, 2023

It started off as what I was used to for a "Medium". Steep, not amazingly well made, the odd chain or [keep reading...]

Steep climb up a mountain in Japan

The first Hyogo Prefectural Office: a beautiful recreation

Article
Monday, October 23rd, 2023

One of the local museums recreated the original Hyogo Prefectural Office. The craftsmanship that went into it is stunning, and while it has that beautiful "new wood" smell, I'm sure it will season beautifully in the years ahead.

Hyogo as an administrative region dates back to the 19th Century. It takes its name from the old Hyogo Port, which was subsumed into what became Kobe. The museum's compound is [keep reading...]

Photograph of the inside of a museum with a modern desk and people looking on

Why I still play with Lego

Article
Thursday, October 19th, 2023

I bought a Lego Classic set. One of the big ones in the yellow box that looks like a brick.

Every couple of days I dig in and slap something together. No particular purpose to it. It's just a random collection of bricks that slowly take shape. I rarely [keep reading...]

A Lego airplane with a blue body, grey wings and red jet engines
Photograph of a paddy field in Japan, drained, cleared and with the supports used to dry the rice still standing

Image
Wednesday, October 11th, 2023

After years of looking out my bedroom window at the empty paddy fields, I decided to track them down. [keep reading...]

Osaka Castle: November 2020

Article
Monday, October 2nd, 2023

As my 3rd Anniversary of living in Japan closes, this is a scene that stands out for those early days. I arrived in Osaka in the middle of the state of emergency when tourism was banned, and we were asked to limit our internal travel.

Living barely 20 minutes' walk from Osaka Castle, it became a regular haunt for our exercise and need to leave the confines of a two [keep reading...]

Photograph of Osaka Castle seen from across a pond and with no one around.

Visiting Kobe Sannomiya? Look up!

Article
Saturday, September 30th, 2023

Sannomiya's Central Street is worth a visit. It's the main shopping mall in Kobe, and the start of an almost continuous 2km long undercover walkway.

However, it isn't a purpose-built mall. Instead it has the feel of a regular street with a canopy installed. That gives it a lot of irregular buildings on either side. Some of these are just a couple of floors, others have [keep reading...]

Photograph of an upper walkway in an industrial retail structure

Rest and relaxation through photography

Article
Monday, September 25th, 2023

I go through phases with my photography. Current phase is a return to "slap a 35mm prime lens, set to black and white mode, everything else to manual."

Whatever comes off the camera is what gets used. At most I'll straighten it, maybe add a watermark. And I'm not allowed to shoot the same thing over [keep reading...]

Photograph of a truck moving across a bridge, with the vehicle blurred because of its speed.
Photograph of a quartet of red bicycles waiting to be rented.

Image
Thursday, September 21st, 2023

Kobe is a walkable city. If you don't fancy all that legwork, you could rent a bicycle. [keep reading...]

Photograph of the Port Liner monorail coming into the station at Sannomiya

Image
Tuesday, September 19th, 2023

Every time I hear a claim driverless trains or monorails don't work, I roll my eyes. I take one regularly. [keep reading...]

My unwitting transmission tower obsession

Article
Tuesday, September 12th, 2023

Sometimes I'll go for a photo walk and fixate on a subject. I don't mean I start following people around in a stalkerish way. My focus settles on a particular object or situation, and I start looking for shots [keep reading...]

A transmission tower, showing the climbing barrier in detail, with another tower in the far distant.
Photo of a road station sign in Japan showing the services available - Toilets, disabled access, smoking room, food and also parking. In the background is the outline of a Green Suzuki Hustler Kei Car parked in a single bay all on its own.

Image
Monday, September 11th, 2023

I always take a photo on my phone. It saves the GPS data, which means I know where I've been. Useful for later edits on photos. [keep reading...]

The digital tourist

Update
Thursday, August 31st, 2023

Illustration of two people stood side by side. One is looking intently at a guidebook, the other is pointing at a tourist attraction. Both seem happy.

In my experience there are two approaches to visiting another country or city as a tourist.

In the first the trip is meticulously planned. Countless websites are visited, brochures bought and influencers inspected. The trip becomes a confirmation that what we saw in our research was “true”. Variation risks us feeling cheated.

In the second, basic information is gathered. We arrive with nothing but a phrasebook and a mental blank canvas. What happens does so by accident, not by plan. It is all but impossible to be disappointed because we have no expectations.

I suspect my approach to travel is closer to the second. Much to the occasional annoyance of Mrs H.

Link to content

© Ross Hori. All Rights Reserved.