Tokyo, Kawagoe, and Kamakura Guide

I. Introduction

In this article, we will review some of the most eye-watering attractions in Tokyo that offer ample photo opportunities for travel photographers. Furthermore, we will review some of the best sites in Kamakura and three reasons why Kawagoe must be included in your itinerary. We will conclude the article with a few thoughts on what should have been (but wasn’t) on my agenda for my October 2024 trip.

II. Tokyo Temples and Shrines

A. Senso-ji Temple

Senso-ji (also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple) is a massive Buddhist temple complex featuring:

• The Kaminarimon and Hozomon Gates
• A five-story pagoda
• The main hall
• A small pond with carps
• The Asakusa shrine
• A 200-meter shopping street called Nakamise.

The temple buildings are well-preserved, with a distinguished and bright red colour. Photography inside the main hall is prohibited, as is the case with almost all temples in Japan.

The site is pretty popular and will be crowded most of the time. However, because of its accessibility and since the temple grounds are open 24/7, getting on location with a travel tripod and capturing stunning pictures should not be too difficult. In fact, you can also choose whether to come at night and do long exposures or during the day when the weather is clear.

Next to Senso-ji temple are numerous streets with countless small shops and picturesque houses that make great subjects for street photography.

Near the Kaminarimon gate, on the opposite side of the street, is the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center, where you can find English-speaking staff, but most importantly, on the 8th floor, a free observation deck.

As I was staying in a hotel 3 minutes away from Senso-ji temple by walking, I was able to visit the temple and its numerous attractions on multiple occasions. This was quite convenient as I could avoid the crowds at night or take long exposures if I wanted.

B. Nezu Shrine

Nezu Shrine is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Tokyo, built some 300 years ago, with well-preserved, beautiful structures coloured in bright red and bronze-green roofs. Its primary structures are:

• Romon Gate: with intricate carvings and bright colours.
• Karamon Gate: with its familiar curved Chinese-style architecture
• Honden: the main sanctuary
• Sukibei: A 200-meter latticed wall surrounding the main sanctuary

I arrived at Nezu Shrine early in the morning, after walking from Ueno station, which took me some 26 min, and after making a short stop at Shinobazunoike Benten-do, where I captured some beautiful pictures of the temple. The walk was easy and worth it, especially if this is your first few days in Tokyo and you are interested in seeing some old city buildings, houses, and shops and its daily life as well as its main attractions.

Two things make Nezu Shrine a fantastic destination in Tokyo: its accessibility and its serene and peaceful ambience. There are barely any crowds, especially if you arrive early and you can take pictures to your heart’s content.

C. Meiji-Jingu

I had the unfortunate chance of underestimating the size of Meiji Jingu grounds and the crowds visiting the shrine. I entered the site from the north, from Yoyogi Station, and walked the forested path lined with giant majestic trees. It was late in the afternoon (around 4 PM), and I had less than an hour before the place closed. I passed the Kitasando Torii (the largest gate in Tokyo) before making my way to the shrine. From either Harajuku or Yoyogi station, it takes about 10 minutes to get to the central area, but if you are not familiar with the map, it might take a bit longer.

The shrine buildings (gate and main hall) are medium-sized compared to Senso-ji. They are also less elaborate and rarely decorated.

Overall, I came back with much fewer photos than I had hoped, and the crowds made the experience less enjoyable than it would have been. I would save a trip to Meiji Jingu for something else.

III. Tokyo Skytree

The Tokyo Skytree Tower has two observation decks, one at 350m while the upper one is at 450m. At the tower’s base is an aquarium and a shopping mall. The tower and the aquarium present ample photo opportunities.

A. The Observation Decks

You can buy a combo ticket for the two observation decks. Still, from my experience, the lower deck is enough if you care about capturing the lovely urban vistas of Tokyo City. The higher observation deck places more distance between you and the subject, making distant objects much fuzzier from the atmospheric haze. Also, everything appears tinier.

While I had a wide-angle zoom lens on me (AF-S Nikkor 18-35mm F/3.5-4.5G ED), I took all my pictures with the Nikon 70-200mm F4. The observation deck can be crowded, but you will still be able to roam around and look for that original shot. I felt that the wide-angle photos would not look great from a composition perspective as they would be mostly sky and have a lot of distortion. Instead, I opted for closeups of the neighbourhoods and suburbs.

Unfortunately, the time of my visit was around noon, when the light was harshest. Although the ticket from Klook.com specified an entrance time, I was allowed to use it at any time. By placing the sun behind me, I was able to get great captures, with colours and saturation added in postprocessing. Although I am quite happy with the outcome, I would still think a sunset golden-hour session would yield the best results.

B. Sumida Aquarium

The Sumida Aquarium is advertised and promoted on many YouTube channels as a small aquarium, but I think that’s a lot of humility from the authors. It is one of the best, most organized, and rich aquariums I have ever been to. You will be surprised by the variety of fish and how good the setup and presentation are. The jellyfish tank is gorgeous, with all the coloured jellyfish floating around endlessly.

Ideally, you need a fast autofocus, wide-aperture macro lens to capture the best picture. I used the Nikkor 60mm F2.8 and the Nikon 70-200mm, and the sharp, in-focus images look pretty decent.

IV. Ueno Area

A. Ueno Toshogu Shrine

The Toshogu Shinto shrine is unique in several aspects. First, it dates from 1627. Second, it has been very well preserved. Third, it’s right in the middle of Tokyo City, making it easily accessible. Fourth, there is the Karamon gate, which was built in Chinese style. Finally, there are many considerably-sized lanterns in front of the shrine. On the right-hand side of the shrine, there is a five-story pagoda, which you can check out from behind a fence.

If you arrive early in the morning, there will be few crowds. This should not be very difficult if you are staying in Tokyo. Also, the sun (at least in October) will be behind you, and the light will be ideal. In the evening, the shrine will be backlit, and the high-contrast scene will be challenging to capture.

The decorations adorning the gates are outstanding in detail and colour, and you better have a standard (or even telephoto prime) on you.

B. Tokyo National Museum

Tokyo National Museum is one of the largest and oldest in Japan, established more than a century and a half ago, in 1872. It’s also conveniently located in the Ueno Park area, which makes it fairly accessible, especially on hot or rainy days. The museum is made up of six buildings:

• Honkan is the main building exhibiting ancient and modern Japanese artwork, including antique Buddhist statues, scrolls, Noh masks, and other historical artifacts.
• Hyokeikan is primarily used for temporary exhibitions.
• Toyokan sits to the right of the Honkan and features Asian art galleries from China, Korea, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, India and Egypt.
• Heiseikan offers exhibitions on ancient Japanese cultures.

I had the chance to visit Honkan and Toyokan, each of which requires between 1 and 2 hours. Photography is allowed on many of the items. The light in the exhibition halls is dim, so you might want to bring a fast standard prime lens, such as a 50mm F1.8.

V. Shinjuku and Akihabara Areas

Shinjuku and Akihabara share many similarities, from character to shopping and photo opportunities.

You can choose to visit Shinjuku or Akihabara at night, but it’s only after sunset that these areas indeed come to life. Both are bustling areas with crowded streets, eateries, shopping centres, and plenty of neon lights.

It is also more challenging at night to capture great photos of neon-lit streets. There are not many opportunities to place a table tripod on the ground (or anywhere else), and the wide-angle lens that is typical for such settings will include many distractions (cars, crowds, etc.) in the frame. Here, I think a longer telephoto lens or a tripod might have improved the situation.

The best time to shoot such scenes is probably 1-2 hours before dark, when there is still plenty of light, as the artificial lights will not be enough. A fast midrange zoom such as the 24-70 F2.8 of a prime in the same (35-60mm) would be ideal.

VI. Shibuya Area

A. Shibuya Scramble Crossing

Shibuya Scramble Crossing needs little introduction; it is by far the most iconic place in metropolitan and modern Tokyo. I headed there on an afternoon, hoping that I could get away with some handheld shots as I had left my SmallRig table tripod at the hotel.

Both camera and lens performed as expected; however, looking at those pictures now, I can see that quality, while good enough, could have been much better. On the other hand, I am not sure I would have been able to set my tripod comfortably on the ground, given the fantastic crowd that was crossing over and over again.

B. Shibuya Narrow Streets and Laneways

The Shibuya area, with its famous neon-lit streets, cafes and shops, presents brilliant opportunities to capture city life at its best. In this case, the crowds are part of the narrative and what gives the Shibuya Crossing this aura of magnificence.

Although the Nikkor 18-35mm F/3.5-4.5G ED did a fantastic job (especially at 18mm), with extra-sharp images at F9.0 (if we ignore the distortion), it did not feel like the best lens for the job. Indeed, you must get above the crowds; otherwise, at less than 20mm, they will fill a decent part of the frame, and at 35mm, they will fill more than 60% of it.

VII. Kawagoe

Kawagoe, nicknamed Little Edo, is about 30 minutes by train from central Tokyo, or, more specifically, Ikebukuro Station on the Yamanote line. At Ikebukuro Station, you can also find a tourist information centre where you can get valuable information about Kawagoe and its events.

Whilst visiting Kawagoe is excellent on any day, it is a must in October due to the Kawagoe Autumn Festival. Why wait to take a candid shot of a man or woman in a traditional kimono in Tokyo or Kyoto if you can be treated to a vast parade of locals dressed in bright-patterned traditional attires?

The highlight of the festival is the Jinko-sai, or the parading of floats accompanied by dancers and singers through the streets. In October 2024, the Jinko-sai started at 1 pm at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine and returned to the shrine at 2.30 pm. The procession was slow, allowing more than enough time to take pictures. The roundtrip path of the procession easily accommodates the large crowds, so you don’t have to compete for good vantage points. In fact, it was this convenience of being able to move around freely to recompose your shots that made the day so unique.

While you are there, you should probably visit Kawagoe’s Warehouse District (Kurazukuri no Machinami), a nostalgic street that takes you back to the Edo Period (1603-1867).

VIII. Kamakura

When visiting Kamakura, I took the advice of Tokyo Kenchan and started my trip from Kita-Kamakura Station, walking from there towards the city centre. Numerous temples and shrines, some small, some large, are scattered on the way. Kamakura is the birthplace of Zen Buddhism, and most temples have beautiful gardens with trees trimmed to perfection. The best part was that it was never crowded, at least not until I arrived at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. Since I had only one day, I was not able to see the great state of Buddha or Hasadera Temple. However, I did see a giant and remarkably charismatic wooden statue of the same Buddha at Kenchoji Temple.

Unfortunately, and although it was the last days of October, autumn had not yet entirely set in at Kamakura. So, no autumn colours were found anywhere.

Kamakura is a must-see. The primary locations can be very crowded, but arriving early and avoiding the touristy places as best as possible is achievable. The sheer number of temples and their remarkable beauty are very much worth it.

IX. Mt. Takao

A day trip to Mt. Takao offers three photo opportunities to which we now turn our attention. All three attractions are on Trail 1, which is also the easiest of the six hiking trails available for visitors.

A. Mt Takao Monkey Park & Wildflower Garden

The Mt Takao Monkey Park & Wildflower Garden is a five—to ten-minute walk from the cable car exit at Takaosan Station and is home to a family of Japanese macaques. I remember the sign saying there are about 80 monkeys in the park, but I think it was more like 20, at least in the enclosure to which tourists have access. Either way, there will be plenty of animal portrait opportunities.

There is an observation deck where you can watch the monkeys go about their daily activities. Below the deck is a small area that includes the entrance and is separated from the “park” by a glass wall. The monkeys are not shy and come quite close. The park provides a fantastic opportunity to get close-up portraits of Japanese macaques.

The monkeys will be jumping around, playing with their youngsters, and chasing each other. A fast autofocus zoom lens—such as the magnificent Nikkor 70-200mm f4—would be ideal for taking great pictures.

B. Takaosan Yakuōin Yukiji Temple

The Yakuōin Yukiji Temple is situated halfway between the cable car at Takaosan Station and the summit. Within the temple grounds, you will find several buildings, one of which has brilliant engravings relatively well-preserved. A couple of Tengu statues can be found on the premises. In addition to statues of deities, the temple offers rich photo opportunities of dragons, goats, ducks, and other animals carved in the wood, sitting on a bright red background.

I relied mainly on the 60mm standard prime lens from Nikkor. Even at its shortest focal length, the 18-35mm wide zoom was wide enough to include plenty of distracting elements in the frame.

C. Summit

Since I chose to hike Mt Takao on a rainy day, I set myself up for disappointment with the summit views. Online reviews say that on a clear day, one can see Mt Fuji. However, on a rainy day, hardly any views can be seen. I was unable to capture any photos.

X. Concluding Remarks

If you are on a short trip to Japan, then Tokyo, Kawagoe, Nikko and Kamakura are all that you need. You can easily fill an itinerary of 5-8 days with unbeatable choices covering cultural, culinary, and touristic sites. Photo opportunities are abundant, especially if you are into architectural, cultural, urban, and street photography.