Michael in Japan 日本写真家

01/01/2024

There was a massive earthquake (rather a series of large ones and one giant one) on the west coast of Japan. Just in case anyone is wondering, I'm on the east coast, so I'm fine. There are many, many people who are not fine right now, so hopefully in the coming days we'll all be able to find ways to help them out.

View the location of the quake’s epicenter and shake area.

15/11/2022

Ouchi-Juku underneath the stars.
Shimogo, Fukushima, Japan

#日本 #大内宿 #夜 #星空 #福島県 #下郷 #歴史

15/11/2022

Funny How Time Slips Away

#仙台 #エルビス #宮城県 #日本 #白黒

15/08/2022

On the way to the station, this critter decided to do his little sword-whip motion in front of me as he crossed perpendicular to me. Sassy!

#セスジスズメ #仙台 #岩切 #宮城県 #虫 #コスズメ属 #チョウ目

05/08/2022

Not great weather, but decent enough to test out shooting Sendai's annual fireworks from near my house.

D850 + 70-200mm (+1.4 TC)
GH5 + 100-300mm (video)

Skeeter are out in FORCE. Going to lose weight in the next hour and a half. Going to be some fat skeeters having trouble flying, unfortunately. It's been rainy, so thought they might be a bit beat down. No such luck. Stupid assumption on my part.

12/07/2022

Found a little friend on the way to the train station the other day. I was tempted to pick the lil critter up. Looked fairly harmless as it reminded me of rat/corn snakes. Hadn't ever seen a pattern like this one. Just now looked it up and I was right to've not played with it. Rhabdophis tigrinus (Yamakagashi in Japanese) or Tiger Keelback. When grumpified, they'll release steroidal toxins out of their necks. Exciting times! At least their fangs are in the backs of their mouths, so it's a bit difficult to bite a big critter like me and deliver venom successfully. Reminds me of Hognose snakes back in Oklahoma.

Almost a stupid mistake by me. Head didn't resemble that of a viper, so I didn't assume it to be venomous right off the bat. Luckily, the fact that I didn't recognize the pattern told me enough to resist the urge to pick it up as I'm generally wont to do when snakes appear.

Learned something new! Had no idea venomous snakes lived right around my house. Something to keep in mind if I'm ever rooting around in the grass and down by the river.

Have you ever gotten a snake in any of your videos?

#ヤマカガシ #蛇 #岩切 #毒蛇

12/07/2022

The East-i maintenance Shinkansen at its home in Rifu, Miyagi (just down the road from my house - I'm neighbors with the East-i!).

The 2001 E926 Series is the newest version of Dr. Yellow but there was only one (Set S51) built. Inspecting Shinkansen lines in Tohoku, you're lucky if you get to see it.

https://locomotive.fandom.com/wiki/E926_Series_Shinkansen

#新幹線 #東北

25/06/2022

Samurai lord Date Masamune overlooking Sendai, the city he founded circa 1600.

#仙台市 #仙台 #伊達政宗 #侍 #サムライ #東北 #宮城県 #ドローン撮影 #ドローン空撮 #ซามูไร #самурай #센다이 #सेंडाइ #Сендай #Σεντάι #سينداي

24/06/2022

Near Ichinoseki in Iwate, Japan, you can drive around in fairly innocous scenery and never really notice anything out of the ordinary. You can be almost on top of Geibikei Gorge and not realize what you're missing. You'll need to get a ride on one of the square-bottomed boats pushed upriver by a boatsman with a pole (who may even sing traditional songs while en route).

If you want a pretty cool place to kill an afternoon, I definitely recommend coming here. If you love nature, the high rock walls and surrounding forest will get you out and away from any sense of civilization.

#日本 #岩手県 #猊鼻渓 #東北 #行くぜ東北 #東北カメラ #自然 #ドローン撮影 #ドローン空撮

24/06/2022

Thanks to for taking me out to shoot fireflies and to for the opportunity.

Location: Behind the Nishiki Information Center, south of Tazawako.

#西明寺 #秋田県 #仙北 #西木 #日本 #秋田を旅しよう #行くぜ東北 #ホタル #緑色