I love my friends, I love my husband, and I love my doggie. Last weekend, we all rented a beach house in Rockaway, Oregon, and spent some quality time relaxing. Sometimes, it’s nice to get away.
Rebecca and Robbie are Seattle natives who up and moved to Tokyo for an adventure together. Talk about a couple after my own heart! I first met them last summer after they contacted me to ask if it would be a problem working with me remotely, from Japan. “Heck no,” I said, “In fact, I might be heading out there in a few weeks.” And so I did… We met in-person over delicious Udon noodles in Roppongi, hit it off, and the rest is history.
These two fell deeply in love and started planning their future together during one of the most amazing, profound, and stressful experiences a person can have– living abroad. I can only imagine that it will be a wonderful foundation for a lifetime of adventures together. They approach life, and love, with a joyful playfulness that is as hilarious as it is infectious. I’ve loved every minute we’ve spent together so far!
We originally planned to take their engagement portraits in Seattle over the New Years holiday, but when it was decided that I was coming back to Japan for a SECOND time in 2011 (see my recent tsunami relief photographs) we realized that it was the perfect chance to get photographs of the two of them together in Tokyo. For their session, we planned a little date in the heart of Tokyo. First, a walking tour of Meiji Shrine, where we frolicked through the trees of the urban oasis and Rebecca and Robbie wrote prayer cards (ema) to send good wishes for their marriage to the Shinto deities. Then, we strolled Harajuku’s heart of trendy youth fashion: Takeshita street, and ogled the gaudy and grotesque goods for sale. Finally, we took the Yamanote line to Shibuya, where Rebecca and Robbie held hands to wade through the busiest crosswalk in the world — Hachiko crossing — in order to get to the delicious takoyaki just down the street at the Gindako on Center Gai. We said goodbye, and they said goodnight, on the Shibuya station Yamanote line platform while the packed train pulled in to the station. It. Was. Amazing.
Rebecca and Robbie are getting married this year at the lovely outdoor Sylvan Theater at the University of Washington this August, and we’re really, really excited and honored to be there. Thank you both for sharing your love, your joy, and your playful energy. We can’t wait to celebrate with you on this side of the Pacific!
Want to see more photographs from this session? Watch Rebecca + Robbie’s Tokyo Engagement Slideshow!
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OMG – I LOVE that moving train pic!! SO dramatic!!!
I spent a few days in Tokyo prior to and after volunteering in Ishinomaki (see posts in PART ONE and PART TWO for images) with a friend’s tsunami relief group. This was my fourth visit to Japan, and I was already very familiar with Tokyo after studying there for a year in college. There’s always so much I want to do whenever I’m in Tokyo– visit my old haunts and let the nostalgia and “otherness” of living abroad just wash over me. Because I only had a few days and I wanted to save most of my energy for the hard work I would be doing as a volunteer, I contented myself to casually wandering the neighborhoods surrounding the Japanese Inns where I was staying. [SIDE NOTE: For anyone interested in travel to Japan, I highly recommend staying at the Homeikan Ryokan in Hongo 3-chome and the Andon Ryokan in Taito-ku. Both are simple, inexpensive lodging with fabulous breakfast. Where Homeikan is traditional, Andon is modern. They see their fair share of tourists and will take good care of you.] I find some time alone to be energizing while traveling, but happily, I had the chance to spend time in the evenings with old friends and my Japanese Host family over good food and drink.
I love Tokyo, especially the shitamachi (low town, or old town). Most of the following photos were taken wandering around Asakusa, Ueno, Jinbocho, Kappabashi. As usual with travel posts, I’ve captioned them for context. Enjoy!
The Tokyo Sky Tree tower, the world’s highest broadcasting tower, over the Sumida river in Asakusa, early morning
Sitting area in a guest room at Homeikan Ryokan, a Japanese inn near Tokyo University
A Buddhist Monk asking for alms outside Ueno station
Japanese schoolgirls in uniform enjoying the sunshine in Ueno Park
More than 50 stone lanterns line the walkway at Ueno Toshogu Shrine
Sign for a designated-hours women-only car on the Hibiya line of Tokyo Metro
Passengers riding a Tokyo subway train
Left, my Japanese host mother, right, a skyscraper in Shidome
Graffiti on the wall of closed businesses in Jinbocho at night
Construction in the Jinbocho antique book district in Tokyo, Japan
Antique books for sale in Jinbocho, which is full of stores that specialize in old and rare books
Japanese schoolboys and their teacher strolling through a side street in Asakusa near Senso-ji temple
A persimmon tree laden with fruit in Asakusa
Pigeons flock over the roof of Senso-ji Buddhist temple, a popular tourist destination in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan
Visitors to Senso-ji temple wash themselves in incense smoke for luck, blessing, and healing before entering the temple
The outer vestibule of Senso-ji temple with giant lantern, and the nearby five-storied pagoda framed by Tokyo Sky Tree tower
The Five-Storied Pagoda and Tokyo Sky Tower from Senso-ji in Asakusa
Taken from the private garden behind the five-story pagoda
Immaculately manicured Japanese black pines in the Senso-ji pagoda garden
A young man in yukata modeling in an Asakusa alleyway behind the shops that line the path to Senso-ji
Bicycles outside a shop in Asakusa plastered with posters for traditional Japanese entertainers
A tsunami relief campaign poster subtitled in English “Ain’t Gonna Take This Anymore,” showcases fishermen and farmers working to clear tsunami debris
Sights from Kappabashi kitchen town include the Niimi kitchen store building with teacups for landings and plastic food manufactured for restaurants to display
Plastic food samples, “sampuru,” on display on Kappabashi-dori where speciality kitchen shops sell directly to restaurants and tourists alike
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Nishi Shinjuku, night
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One of the things I loved most about volunteering was listening to the stories people told. My Japanese was more than a little rusty after six-ish years of disuse, so it took me a while to get back into conversing. But because I understood better than I could speak, I spent a lot of time listening. Using context clues, body language, and watching other peoples’ responses, I could even often glean most of what speakers of regional dialects and elderly people were saying– which is always a challenge.
Most of the stories we heard were terribly, terribly sad. Beyond the destruction in its strange half slate-wiped-clean state, the stories were what weighed heavy on my heart. No matter how quickly the debris is cleared, it will be a long time before these people are healed.
This post has a lot of stories to go along with pictures, and I’ve paired each snippet with a corresponding photo as a caption. I’ll leave it at that and let the pictures and captions do the rest of the talking. This is the last of my tsunami photos… I’ll be sharing a couple from my second hometown, Tokyo, after this, and an engagement session I photographed with an ex-pat Seattlite couple there. If these photos or the stories therein touched you, please share this post, and the photos in Part One.
The center of the damage in Ishinomaki City, where the huge wave blasted through buildings along the coast
An elementary school opposite the coast in Ishinomaki city, which was destroyed by the tsunami and burned by oil that leaked from a tanker swept inland. Students were safely evacuated before the wave hit.
A small marina in Onagawa, downhill from temporary tsunami refugee housing. Many residents depended on the fishing industry for income. Now this marina and others are ruined by water and quake damage and cannot support the industry.
Yuria, 4, talks with a volunteer about what happened on the day of the tsunami. She was at daycare and her parents were at work when the wave came and swept up from the marina to destroy her house.
Little Yuria lives in temporary housing with her parents and grandmother. She doesn’t seem traumatized by the events of the past year, even when we walk by the gravel pit that stands where her house once did.
This elderly woman was swept away when the wave hit Onagawa. She survived by swimming in the frigid waters. Now she lives in temporary housing and is making zorii (right) to sell with the other “aunties” and “grandmas”
A lone corporate building stands where there was once a vibrant community. In this area, the wave was funneled inland by hills, causing it to be up to 60 feet high. This building has windows blown out on the top floor.
A tsunami-damaged TESCO gas station. The hillside was washed away by the wave and the September typhoon, which devastated the already damaged area and fragile soil
Left, the devastation in Oshika whaling town from above and, right, earthquake damage to an unrepaired section of road
Led by a local resident, volunteers walk down a washed out beach to survey the tsunami damage
Looking up from the raised beach at an apartment building wrecked by the wave. The water reached the top of its second story.
A fisherman stands on a sea wall and looks out at the ocean, his friend and his enemy.
Despite having to sort through the wreckage of their own homes and being up to their knees in mud, many people we met were all smiles, glad to meet the day
Washed in from sea, the wreckage of local houses rests above an ocean sea wall in unsorted piles of debris. A volunteer takes in the scene.
Pieces of a roof ripped from a Japanese home and deposited by the March tsunami on the beach amid car parts, clothing, dishes, and other debris
Left, the center pole of the roof of the area’s oldest home (made with traditional joinery) destroyed by the March 2011 tsunami. Right, a soiled tatami mat (traditional flooring) washed up by the wave
A second of damaged coastline is home to debris and flotsam collected as water washed through homes and businesses and back out to sea. Most is too damaged to salvage.
A lone rubber boot, filled with mud and sea water. All of us wore rubber boots and gloves while volunteering, and no matter how careful we were, we ended the day with mud in our shoes and under our nails.
A man hunts for the gravestone of his family dog, near where his home’s foundation remains. He explains that he wanted to find the rock to reassure his daughter that it was still there, and that it is a special type of stone that is only found on a nearby island. Right, a hard hat rests on a foundation wall near his home.
A child’s bike, covered in mud, sits atop a pile of “non burnable” garbage collected from a washed-out area
Looking toward the beach, the remains of a residential area. Only foundations and detritus are left where Japanese homes once stood.
Newly painted fishing floats laid out to dry. We were asked to stencil these floats by a local fisherman in need of help.
Left, fishing floats laid out to dry after stenciling. Right, the remains of incense urns for a home Buddhist altar on the empty site of a bulldozed house.
Toys left by local children in the foundation of a wrecked building near the marina of a Japanese town. Note the newly graded road and reinforced sea wall in the background.
Amid smashed cement and torn-up rebar, a stray cat sits, begging for scraps.
A day’s catch of mackerel sits on the cracked marina near Ishinomaki, Japan
Fishing boats tethered at sunset in a marina near Ishinomaki, Japan
The unsafe local port/marina, cracked by the earthquake and nearly sunk by the tsunami, is scattered with rebar and wreckage and nearly floods at high tide.
A Japanese fire truck and fire station, casualties of the March 2011 tsunami. The fire truck, like a good portion of the tsunami-affected area, is covered in a tangle of fishing nets.
Rebar and smashed cement, along with sections of the old road, rest on part of the sunken pier in a small Japanese town
The sunken pier and ruined foundations of fishing outbuildings, framed by grass.
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