TOKYO & ISHIGAKI, JAPAN

I recently had the opportunity to take a short trip to Tokyo for work. I stayed at the ANA Intercontinental which is an amazing hotel with a great view overlooking Tokyo. The city is famous for its camera shopping so I went out to the Shinjuku area to see what the hype was all about. There are huge megastores and small, hidden stores with everything that you could ever imagine. The one thing that I noticed was that all of the gear I found was either the same price as in the States or was more expensive. I guess that the big deal is if you are looking for vintage equipment or one-offs, this is your place. You can find anything that you ever wanted here but I would say to save yourself the trouble and shop for newer equipment online.

Last time I tried to capture the famous Shinjuku Crossing, the world's busiest pedestrian crossing, with mediocre results. This time I wanted to get a different perspective and shot from above. The photo turned out amazing!

Since I was there over the weekend, and this was my second trip to Japan, I wanted to get out of the city and see what the other parts of Japan are like. I hopped on a flight to Ishigaki to go scuba diving with the manta rays. It is great because being a tourist you can book flights at a cheap rate based on areas that you want to go. The flight that I was looking at was around $800 but with the discount, $100 each way. The one thing to keep in mind is that you have to make the flight before you leave the USA and have to have a roundtrip flight in and out of Japan. On the flight out, I made sure to get a window seat with a view of the beautiful Mt Fuji. It didn't disappoint as it was shrouded in clouds and truly a spectacular view.

I got my first view of Ishigaki Island as we were on the descent into the airport and what a island! I could already see the reef that surrounded the island and was getting excited to explore. Once on the ground, I realized that the weather was a lot like Florida, hot and very humid! I caught the bus to the Intercontinental Resort and realized why so many Japanese vacation there. It is a tropical island that really makes you feel like you are in another world. The turquoise water and sandy beaches were something out of a travel brochure. After checking into the hotel and being awed by the view from my room, I watched a couple weddings in the chapel that was right outside my room. I took a trip into town that evening to get dinner and do some souvenir shopping.

The next morning I got picked up by Toyo from Viking Scuba and off we went to the other side of the island. There was just three of us diving with Toyo which made it that much better! All of the equipment was brand new and Toyo was very knowledgable about the area. The first dive was at a reef and, of course, the first thing that I saw was one of the Japanese sea snakes. These things are poisonous and I am not a fan. Luckily, Toyo had briefed us to just remain clear of them and they will not bother you. The second dive was at the famous Manta Scramble, just off the beach from Club Med and it lived up to its name. We got to see not only manta rays but my first sea turtle!

After diving, I explored Kabila Bay which is probably the most popular destination on the island and where they grow black pearls. Then I headed back into town for dinner again before heading back to the hotel. The next morning was my flight back to Tokyo and again I sat by the window but this time got to see the many island of Okinawa. I still have it on my list to see the bamboo forest in Kyoto via the bullet train but that will have to wait for the next trip. If you haven't been to Japan, I would highly recommend it but make sure you allow for plenty of time to explore all that it has to offer.