My photo backlog has gotten completely out of hand

I’d left this blog untouched for two years, and in that time an insane number of unpublished photos piled up. I hadn’t even developed most of them, so I spent a weekend wrestling with Lightroom, blasted through a batch of edits, and now I’m posting them all at once.

Tokyo Motor Show 2017

This is from last year’s motor show. I didn’t take a single photo of the booth companions — I basically went just to see the AMG Project ONE. We also got to sit in a lot of the driver’s seats, so my wife happily hopped into one sports car after another.

Sapporo Snow Festival 2018

The Sapporo Snow Festival — famous for the fact that actual Sapporo residents never bother going. Still, this was only my second time attending since I moved away from the city. This time I brought my wife along. Our whole goal was the giant FF14 snow sculpture of Estinien and Nidhogg — honestly that’s the only sculpture we even looked at (lol).

Ashikaga Flower Park

My wife had been saying for ages she wanted to see the giant wisteria trellis at Ashikaga Flower Park, so we finally went. It had been an unusually warm year and the wisteria looked set to bloom early, so we took time off ahead of Golden Week to beat the crowds. That turned out to be exactly the right call — the wisteria was in full, glorious bloom. If we’d waited until the second half of Golden Week, I suspect it would already have been past its peak. It’s a bit of a trek out there, but it was far more satisfying than I expected.

Sumida Aquarium

Went with my wife and one of her friends. This also happened to be my first time near Tokyo Skytree. I figured the Skytree’s own parking lot would be impossibly crowded, so I parked at the Ito-Yokado in Hikifune and took the train one stop instead — and that bet paid off. Where I miscalculated was the food: every restaurant nearby was packed solid, and we ended up waiting 30 minutes just to buy tickets. It’s a small aquarium so you can get through it quickly, but if I had to pick highlights, it’d be the garden eels, the giant isopod, and the penguins.

Tokyo Racecourse — NHK Mile Cup

Through a rather unexpected connection, I ended up invited to the owners’ seating and watched the race from there. We even got access to the underground passage by the weighing room and the paddock. Aside from not actually winning any money, it was fantastic. Here’s what comes with an owner’s seat:

• A reserved, covered seat right along the home stretch
• A monitor, drink holder, betting-slip holder, and space for your bags, all at your seat
• Dedicated betting windows, smoking area, snack counter, and restaurant just for owners’ seating
• Access down to paddock level, right up close to the horses

To get inside the paddock itself, though, you apparently need an invitation from an owner who actually has a horse running that day — those people are the ones wearing ribbons on their clothes.

Kawasaki Factory Night View

On a sudden whim, I headed out to the Ogimachi area of Kawasaki to shoot the factory night views. I forgot my tripod, so everything’s handheld. I never quite found the composition I was picturing — maybe it would’ve been better if I’d walked up onto the bridge? Regardless, the drive along the Tama River toward Gasu Bridge near Futako-Tamagawa felt fantastic. I’d love to go back.

Jindai Botanical Gardens

Another spot my wife had been wanting to visit. Given the season, roses were clearly the main event, so that’s what we focused on. The gardens are bigger than I expected, so covering the whole place takes a fair bit of time. The parking lot is also seriously crowded, so you’ll likely get redirected to the overflow lot and have to walk a bit — wear shoes you can actually walk in.