I spent three weeks in Japan recently, mostly for vacation and a bit of it business. Of course while there I shot a lot of street. Some of my favorite spaces to shoot in are Nakano, Akihabara, Ebisu, Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku. Most are obviously good spots and in every guidebook. However you really need to slow down and take it in before you start shooting. Get an idea of the flow of people and the frequency of the traffic lights and trains to get the right shots. You also need to be patient, sometimes finding a good spot is one thing but waiting for a good subject is another. Also waiting around in one spot without looking strange is a technique in itself.

On a nice weekend afternoon I love doing a slow walk from Shibuya to Harajuku. Lately I’ve been shooting almost entirely with the 24mm and 50mm, switching between the two only when I stop for a coffee.

Not really an easy walk from Harajuku to Shinjuku so I take a train over and carry on with shooting street over there.

Then I’ll either just stick around Shinjuku and do dinner there or train over to Nakano and hit an alleyway cafe there. In a day I’ll shoot around 100-150 shots, and out of all those, I’ll only keep about a dozen.