Hokkaido Photo Drift: Shiretoko National Park

Volcanoes, cliffs, and sea caves at what the indigenous Ainu called “sir etok,” the end of the earth

Some judicious processing of many of these photos emphasizes the “end of the earth “fuinki,” or atmosphere, of this remote corner of Japan.

Japan Photo Drift: Ishigaki jima Island

Ishigaki jima, Yaeyama Islands Japan

My first winter break in Japan seventeen(!) years ago, while all my friends went off to Thailand, I spent a couple of weeks sleeping wild on Okinawa and Iriomote jima in the off season. Trip of a lifetime! One of I’ve written about elsewhere, and may soon also tell here on Big Sushi…

Meantime, in the spring of 2013, I finally made it back to the Yaeyama islands, this time to Ishigaki jima – with a day trip to Taketomi jima. While it was spring this time and not winter, we still hit it in the off season – which is how I like it anyway. Fewer crowds. More unstable = more interesting weather.

I shot most of these pictures with the Olympus E-P1 and – for reasons that escape me now, since I already owned a couple of fine prime lenses – the 14 – 42 kit zoom lens.