Photo Locations

Hokkaido keeps a different calendar: snow from December to March, no rainy season in June and lavender in July. Where to shoot in Sapporo and Otaru, and which weeks to avoid.

On Miyajima the tide decides the picture, not the clock. High water floats the great gate, low water lets you walk out to its feet, and the island empties after the last evening ferry.

Takayama's old town is three streets wide and empty at seven in the morning. Where to stand in Sanmachi Suji, how the valley at Shirakawa-go actually lights, and why the winter light-up is not a plan.

Kanazawa gives most of what people queue for in Kyoto with a fraction of the queue — a garden, two teahouse streets and earthen walls, all within a short walk. And it rains, which is half the reason it photographs well.

Fuji is a probability, not a location: clear from November to February, hidden for weeks in summer, and gone by mid-morning most days. Where to stand at Lake Kawaguchi, and why the session starts at first light.

Nikko is a shrine town with a mountain road behind it, and the two halves want different hours. Where to stand at Tosho-gu, why flat light wins, and how the Irohazaka traffic decides your October.

Osaka is the one city centre in Japan that gets easier after dark: the canal throws the neon back up and the crowd belongs in the frame. Here is the evening, and the daylight either side of it.

Kyoto's famous frames are a queue by nine and nearly private at six. Here is the hour each one works, the station that gets you there, and the rules in Gion that are not suggestions.

Tokyo gives you two good hours a day: the one after dawn in the old city and the one after sunset in the neon one. Here is where to stand in each, station by station, and what the seasons move.

An hour from Tokyo, Kamakura gives you old Japan and the sea in one session. Where the Great Buddha lights best, why the bamboo here beats the famous grove, and the one place where standing in the road is not an option.

Nara is the one destination here that puts wild animals in the frame, and the first two hours after sunrise are the whole trick. Where the light falls, which station to use, and the deer rules that keep a family safe.

One gate standing in the water brings everyone to Hakone, and there is a queue in front of it. How to be there before it forms, what the odds on Fuji actually are, and where the session goes when the ropeway shuts.