weather
"Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning" | RX1 | 1/200s f/2.0 ISO100 35mm
Autumn is here, it's official. We've had a relatively warm September, and until now, a very (relatively) warm October. On Saturday, everything changed. A huge cold front approaching from the west, covered the whole UK in rain and dropped temperatures by almost 10ºC.
Read MoreThis is Part II of my two-part photo-journal related to a fieldwork trip in Fukui (Part I).
Previously, I described our journey from central Fukui towards the coast at Cape Echizen. It's not a popular tourist destination - there's not really "anything of interest" here. That's probably why I like the area so much. It's quite simply just a part of Japan far away from the neons, anime, and hustle-bustle of city life, or the pseudo theme-park of geisha, temples, and sushi.
Here's a map of the approximate route and its relation to Honshu:
When I left you last, we were facing a rather long, narrow tunnel which passed straight through the mountain to the other side. Upon entering the tunnel, I had to check I had the headlights on - I couldn't really see anything at all, as it took a good minute or two for my eyes to adjust to the complete darkness. Popping out of the other side, we were in for a treat...
There was a very small village in the narrow valley. Just a few small clouds were scattered overhead.
Slipping down
I always love a bit of rust
Over the next 20 minutes, we were subjected to strong winds, rain, sleet, snow, and hail. The works! However, once we reached the coast, we caught another break between the clouds.
日本海 ｜ The Sea of Japan
See the rain in the not-too-far distance, with the sun bursting through?
I'm impressed with the new FE 55/1,8 Sonnar lens
Less than 2km from the coast, there's ~50cm of snow covering the ground. At the coast, it felt almost like spring - if it weren't for the biting cold wind.
Rain coming!
We'd reached our destination, and got to work. I still have a few photos to show from the trip, but this concludes Part II.
I hope you enjoyed the ride through the cold mountains, preferably from the comfort of a nice warm room.
It's finally stopped raining | RX1 | 1/1000s f/16.0 ISO100 35mm
I was greeted by this beautiful sky this morning when I opened the curtains, and just had to take a picture (can you count the crows?). After living in Manchester for seven years I tend not to complain about rainy weather so often (it's nicknamed "The Rainy City" for a reason). However, it's been raining almost non-stop since last Friday night, when huge thunderstorms and quite insane amounts of rain (think tropical deluge) hit Tokyo and followed me all the way to Kyoto, where it remained until around 5pm on Sunday.
Constant rain doesn't make for a good city-break, but we tried our best to get around and see some sights in Kyoto over the weekend. I'll publish the photos throughout the week.
Inazumi | RX1 | 0.6s f/22.0 ISO50 35mm
Tokyo reached 41°C today. 41°C in the shade, is arguably not something any sane person wants to tolerate for too long. The heat was so intense that cracks began to appear in the sky. A huge thunderstorm, like nothing I've seen before, passed directly overhead.
The apartment building next to us was struck, apartments opposite faced a similar fate (pictured above). Somewhere, Keio train line (our local) was struck, denying our escape. Trains are rarely late in Japan, but the entire line was suspended for safety checks following the strike.
We didn't complain.
Rustree
I am always appreciative of trees being left alone in construction sites, or even in completed areas. This seems to happen more in Japan than back home in the UK. On a few occasions, I've seen walls, fences, and even roofs, with holes or recesses where an old tree's been left to its own devices. This particular tree caught my eye as it seems to have sympathy for the metal fence in the foreground, mimicking rust on its bark.
Summer Storms | NEX-7 & SEL30F35 | 1/1250s f/8.0 ISO100 30mm
Summer is definitely here. For the last two days, the temperature in central Tokyo peaked somewhere over 35°C. North of Tokyo, in the mountains of Gunma-ken, 900 people were hospitalised and 2 died from heatstroke. It's rather hot, to say the least. It's also very humid (between 50% ~ 95% RH).
The strong sun easily burns, and it's not uncommon to see ladies with parasols. The heat causes the moist air to rise high, creating these magnificent cumulonimbus clouds. When I took this photo, we could already hear the thunder in the distance. Two hours later, the thunder was above us, and we endured another huge thunderstorm.
Showers | NEX-7 & Canon nFD 50mm F1.4 | 50mm f/5.6 1/3s ISO100
Showers are the theme for June. Rain showers, and bathroom showers. It's almost constantly raining at the moment, and is predicted to continue raining for as long as weather forecasts dare... erm, forecast. The rain's fine, really. I am from the UK, after all. I lived in Manchester for 7 years, which is famous for its near-constant rain. It's the elevated temperatures and humidity that are the killer in Japan during tsuyu, the rainy season.
Just look at that forecast!
You wake up, sticky. You shower. Within 5 minutes of leaving an air-conditioned room, you want a shower. You arrive at work, feeling as if you've jogged the entire way wearing a polyester shell suit. You go through the entire day wishing you were in a desert, or some kind of arid landscape. Occasionally you think back 6 months, when you were wearing moisturiser due to the severe dryness, a scarf, a duffel coat, and shivering in the street. Rushing into the relative warmth of the trains with their heated seats. How on earth can this be the same place?
Every cloud... | NEX-7 & SEL18200LE | 115mm, f/8, ISO 100, 1/2000, RAW
...has a silver lining. Saturday was a complete wash-out. We knew it would be; our phones told us. At its peak, I think the rain reached 40mm/hour... which is a lot. However, Tokyo is basically prepared for such events. Luckily, the Government has poured its money (no pun intended) into colossal drainage systems, ensuring floods are a rarity. Sure, such spending has put japan further into debt, but these days, my very understanding of money is being challenged.
Anyway, we went out drinking with friends on Friday night, with no intention of moving from bed until Saturday afternoon. We ventured out, I had my haircut, and then we stocked up on wine, beer, cheese, biscuits, and enough food for the rest of the weekend. Saturday was spent watching films, playing computer games, drinking good wine, and eating lots of cheese. I also had a couple of white russians. Not bad, really!
We'd been told that Sunday was to have extremely high winds, and sure enough, bikes were being blown down the street (along with everything else), and the wind was howling at around 70-100 kph. A little blustery! One decent side-effect of the strong wind was the removal of the rain clouds, leaving behind fast-moving, but much more photogenic, cumulous clouds. We went for a late-afternoon walk just before sunset, and I took this shot from just outside our front door. The temperature is around 20°C right now, and I'm pretty sure we've seen the last of the cold northerly winds. I've put my big coats away, and I'm trying to remember how I usually dress in the spring.
The Restaurant │ NEX-7 & Sigma 30mm F2.8 │ 30mm, ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/50, -0.3EV I took the above shot yesterday evening, after a lovely long walk around Kichijoji. It's the outside of a restaurant, and is really quite beautiful. It's been done in the style of the old edo wood carvings and paintings, which I absolutely love. It really caught my eye, and pleasantly reminded me I am in Japan.
Today was the Japanese "coming of age day", which is effectively a "bank holiday" (aka a day off) here in Japan. Seijin no hi (成人の日) is a Japanese holiday held annually on the second Monday of January (incidentally this year, it's also the birthday of a very good friend of mine). It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have reached the age of majority (20 years old (二十歳 - hatachi) over the past year, and to help them realize that they have become adults. For me, and my co-workers, it was another day at work. Instead, it a wasn't another day of work, because Tokyo had the heaviest snowfall in the last decade, at over 10cm. I was not dressed for this...
and I am glad to be in the warm right now!